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Hindi Research Article
Conversion of Palm Oil to Methyl and Ethyl Ester using Crude Enzymes
Liu Meng* and Jailani SalihonFaculty Science of Industrial and Technology, Lebuhraya Tun Razak 26300 Gambang Kuantan Pahang Malaysia
- Corresponding Author:
- MLiu Meng
Faculty Science of Industrial and Technology
Lebuhraya Tun Razak 26300 Gambang Kuantan Pahang Malaysia
Tel: +014- 9255090
E-mail: liuzhizi616@yahoo.com.cn
Received date: July 12, 2011; Accepted date: August 10, 2011; Published date: August 12, 2011
Citation: Meng L, Salihon J (2011) Conversion of Palm Oil to Methyl and Ethyl Ester using Crude Enzymes. J Biotechnol Biomaterial 1:110. doi:10.4172/2155-952X.1000110
Copyright: © 2011 Meng L, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Biodiesel (methyl esters) is a clean alternative fuel which can be produced from many renewable resources. Palm oil like other vegetable oils can be used as feedstock for biodiesel production. It is processed through transesterification to produce palm oil methyl ester. Enzymatic reactions catalyzed by lipases are potentially excellent processes to produce biodiesel through the transesterification reaction. Enzymes have several advantages over chemical catalysts such as mild reaction conditions high specificity and renewability. Various microorganisms like bacteria and fungi produce different kinds of enzymes which could be used as catalysts in a series of degradation reactions. Enzymatic transesterification of crude palm oil with methanol was studied. The enzymes from the three bacterial strains with the most significant transesterification reactions were tested for yield of biodiesel by changing the molar ratio of alcohol to crude palm oil and by changing reaction temperature. The molar ratio of methanol to crude palm oil was varied in the range from 3:1 to 4:1. The reaction temperature was varied from 35°C to 60°C. It was found that the optimum ratio of methanol to crude palm oil is 3:1 and the optimum reaction temperature is 40°C.
