3.5. Effects of vegetable oils on enzymatic biodiesel synthesis
It has been reported that all the triglyceride sources should be
considered as lipase substrates. Various oils (sunflower, soybean,
restaurant grease, waste vegetable oils, and animal fats) have been
commonly used in enzymatic biodiesel synthesis. However, such
substances as phospholipids and waxes in oils may negatively affect enzyme activity (Salis et al., 2007).
Three different oils (sunflower, soybean, and waste cooking oil)
were used for biodiesel synthesis by MPPB in order to compare the
effectiveness of the transesterification reaction. All reactions were
performed for 5 h at 65 C by using a stoichiometric excess amount
of methanol (Fig. 5). The highest yield was obtained from sunflower oil (63.8%). Biodiesel yields from soybean and waste cooking
oil were 55.5% and 50.9%, respectively