Kinetics of transesterification of olive oil with methanol catalyzed by immobilized lipase derived from an isolated Burkholderia sp. strain

This work was carried out to investigate the acyl migration phenomena which has been considered as the factor having significant impact on kinetics of transesterification of oils catalyzed by a Burkholderia lipase with 1,3-regioselectivity. Transesterification of olive oil with methanol catalyzed by the immobilized lipase produces various intermediates, including 1-monoglyceride, 2-monoglyceride, 1,2-diglyceride, and 1,3-diglyceride. Migration kinetics of fatty acid groups from sn-2 of 2-monoglyceride and 1,2-diglyceride to 1-monoglyceride and 1,3-diglyceride were investigated for the temperature range of 25-65°C. The kinetics of transesterification of olive oil with methanol involving acyl migration in the presence of water was also systematically studied at 25, 40, and 65°C. Increasing temperature could increase the acyl migration rate. The overall biodiesel conversion was improved from 73.4% (at 25°C) to 90.0% and 92.4% when conducting at 40 and 65°C, respectively. Thermodynamics aspects of equilibrium state of the immobilized lipase-catalyzed transesterification were also discussed.