Microwave activation of enzymatic catalysts for biodiesel production

The enzymatic microwave assisted biodiesel synthesis from macauba (Acrocomia aculeata) oil and ethanol using Novozyme 435 and Lipozyme IM was studied using statistically designed experiments. The investigated variables were reaction temperature, time and enzyme loading. It was observed a significant effect of the reaction time in reducing the catalytic activity which interpreted in terms enzyme deactivation due microwave exposure. The enzyme loading also played an important role, however the effect of temperature was minor appearing only in the effect of variable interactions. The result comparison between biocatalyst activity in absence and presence of microwave showed that the activity is increased about one order of magnitude due to microwave.