Research on Biodiesel Production Catalyzed by Immobilized Lipase

Biodiesel has been gaining increased attention as a nontoxic, biodegradable and renewable new green alternative diesel fuel. Production of biodiesel can be synthesized by chemical or by lipase methods, while lipase method has more advantages compared to chemical synthetic method. In this article, the microbial strains with activity of lipase were isolated from long time oil-contaminated soil and strain of high lipase productivity was obtained by mutation. Lipases from the strain were immobilized and process of synthesis of biodiesel by the immobilized lipases was investigated.The results was showed that Microbial strain producing high-activity lipases was screened and isolated from the oil soil and the lipase activity increased after mutation of the strain. The lipases produced by this strain were alkaline and they were very stable in basic pH range. Conversion rate reached 67% when cottonseed oil was catalyzed by the immobilized lipase to synthesize biodiesel using hexane as solvent.