Lipase-catalyzed irreversible transesterification of Jatropha curcas L. seed oil to fatty acid esters: an optimization study.

摘要

In this work, fatty acid ethyl esters were produced from the lipase-catalyzed irreversible transesterification reaction between Jatropha oil and diethyl carbonate (DEC). Response surface methodology (RSM) based on central composite design (CCD) was used to optimize the five important reaction variables for the irreversible transesterification of Jatropha oil in a solvent-free system. The optimum conditions for the transesterification were a reaction time of 13.3 h, a temperature of 44.5 degrees C, a lipase amount of 13.7% (w/w), a DEC to Jatropha oil molar ratio of 3.75:1 and no need for adding water. The optimal predicted yield of fatty acid esters was 97.7% and the actual value was 96.2%. The results showed that the RSM based on CCD was adaptable for a fatty acid esters yield study for the current transesterification system.