Optimization of the enzymatic butanolysis of jatropha oil for biodiesel production using Eversa

Abstract

The use of non‐edible oils for energy production is attracting increasing attention, with a particular focus on those oils that can be produced from plants growing in non‐arable areas. Among the possible alternatives, oils with high free fatty acid content, such as jatropha, have shown great potential. The optimization of jatropha oil in the presence of a bio‐based alcohol (butanol) was investigated for the production of biodiesel using a commercial enzyme (Eversa from Novozymes). The optimization was conducted by changing the reaction temperature and the amount of catalyst, with a 6:1 butanol/oil molar ratio, while the reaction time was set to 60 min. The optimal result was found at the highest reaction temperature (42 °C) and the highest catalyst amount (9.79%), with a biodiesel yield of 83%. A second optimization was conducted, allowing the time to run for up to 8 h. Here the final biodiesel produced was in line with the EU14214 standards, fulfilling all the requirements with the exception of the requirement for oxidation stability. In addition to fulfilling most of the EU14214 standards, the cost of this new enzyme is lower than that of other commercial alternatives. Results show that biodiesel produced using butanol as alcohol in the transesterification process improved cold flow properties in terms of cloud point (CP), pour point (PP), and cold filter plugging point (CFPP). © 2021 The Authors. Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining published by Society of Industrial Chemistry and John Wiley & Sons Ltd