Production of Biodiesel Using Liquid Lipase Formulations

Looking back at the literature for enzymatic biodiesel, it is evident that the research has been focused on using immobilized lipase to enable re-use of the enzyme due to price constraints on lipases used for catalyzing the transesterification process. The use of liquid formulations of lipase for biodiesel has recently been implemented in the industry. Technology for using liquid formulated lipases for enzymatic biodiesel production is new and, since enzyme prices have been reduced, it is now possible to simplify the process considerably and apply it for very low-quality oils. In this paper, the use of liquid lipase formulations for enzymatic biodiesel will be described along with a general proposal for an industrial-scale enzymatic biodiesel process with >95 % yield.