In a previous study, we suggested the possibility that vegetable
oil and DMC could produce biodiesel and glycerol carbonate
in a tert-butanol solvent system [15]. In a tert-butanol solvent
system, to directly use biodiesel and glycerol carbonate, solvent
must be separated in the reactant. This system requires additional
processing or additives for solvent separation, incurring more
cost [25].
In this study, we propose an eco-friendly process to co produce
biodiesel and glycerol carbonate in a solvent-free system
and to optimize the conversion of biodiesel and glycerol carbonate
through the investigation of the effects of enzyme type, enzyme
concentration, molar ration of DMC to soybean oil, reaction temperature
and water addition.