Continuous enzymatic epoxidation of oleic acid methyl ester - process development and -optimisation
Integration of life sciences & engineering
Integration of Life Sciences & Engineering - Poster (T5-P)
Keywords: enzyme catalysis, process development, lubrification, solvent free
Since the interest in renewable raw materials and biodegradable products is increasing, within the collaborative research center 442 (SFB 442: Environmentally Friendly Tribosystems by Suitable Coatings and Fluids) the development of environmentally friendly high performance tribosystems has been developed. The derivatives of natural oils and fats have proven to be beneficial in terms of toxicity and biodegradability.
The research is focused on the development and optimisation of a continuous process using a polymer-supported enzyme. The chemoenzymatic epoxidation is carried out in a biphasic system containing oleic acid methylester and an aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution without the use of any additional solvent. The catalyst is the immobilised lipase B from Candida antarctica (commercially available as Novozym 435®). The reaction is carried out in small volume fluidised bed reactor which contains the two liquid phases and the immobilised biocatalyst.
The setup for the continuous process as well as results of continuous reaction runs on basis of catalytic efficiency and space-time-yield will be presented and compared to the synthesis using the chemical route
Presented Wednesday 19, 13:30 to 15:00, in session Integration of Life Sciences & Engineering - Poster (T5-P).
