Improvement of biodiesel production from palm oil by co-immobilization of Thermomyces lanuginosa lipase and Candida antarctica lipase B: Optimization using response surface methodology.

Candida antarctica lipase B (CALB) and Thermomyces lanuginose lipase (TLL) were co-immobilized on epoxy functionalized silica gel via an isocyanide-based multicomponent reaction. The immobilization process was carried out in water (pH 7) at 25 °C, rapidly (3 h) resulting in high immobilization yields (100%) with a loading of 10 mg enzyme/g support. The immobilized preparations were used to produce biodiesel by transesterification of palm oil. In an optimization study, response surface methodology (RSM) and central composite rotatable design (CCRD) methods were used to study the effect of five independent factors including temperature, methanol to oil ratio, t-butanol concentration and CALB:TLL ratio on the yield of biodiesel production. The optimum combinations for the reaction were CALB:TLL ratio (2.1:1), t-butanol (45 wt%), temperature (47 °C), methanol: oil ratio (2.3). This resulted in a FAME yield of 94%, very close to the predicted value of 98%.