Abstract
Biodiesel constitutes an attractive source of energy because it is renewable, biodegradable, and non-polluting. Up to 20% biodiesel can be blended with fossil diesel and is being produced and used in many countries. Animal fat waste represents nearly 6% of total feedstock used to produce biodiesel through alkaline catalysis transesterification after its pretreatment. Lipase transesterification has some advantages such as the need of mild conditions, absence of pretreatment, no soap formation, simple downstream purification process and generation of high quality biodiesel. A few companies are using liquid lipase formulations and, in some cases, immobilized lipases for industrial biodiesel production, but the efficiency of the process can be further improved. Recent developments on immobilization support materials such as nanoparticles and magnetic nanomaterials have demonstrated high efficiency and potential for industrial applications. This manuscript reviews the latest advances on lipase transesterification and key operational variables for an efficient biodiesel production from animal fat waste.
Highlights
Animal byproducts generated in the European Union slaughterhouses represent nearly 17 million tons per year and, from them, 5 million tons inedible byproducts result from rendering and are mostly used for energy generation like biofuels and biodiesel [1,2,3]
Transesterification through alkaline catalysis is the preferred process at industrial biodiesel production plants [23]
Even though transesterification through alkaline catalysis is the preferred process in the majority of industrial biodiesel production plants [23], a few lipase-based processes have already been implemented to plant-scale operation
Summary
Animal byproducts generated in the European Union slaughterhouses represent nearly 17 million tons per year and, from them, 5 million tons inedible byproducts result from rendering and are mostly used for energy generation like biofuels and biodiesel [1,2,3]. Heterogeneous catalysts are not sensitive to the presence of free fatty acids and moisture, can catalyze esterification and transesterification simultaneously, and can be separated from the reaction media. Such solid catalysts tend to form three phases resulting in a reduced reaction rate and high energy consumption [25]. Lipases have the advantage to generate biodiesel under mild reaction conditions through the conversion of free fatty acids and triacylglycerols in the presence of an acyl acceptor [32] This manuscript reviews and discusses the latest advances in the use of free and immobilized lipases for an efficient transesterification of animal fat waste
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
