Progress on biodiesel production with enzymatic catalysis in China
酶法合成生物柴油工业化研究进展

This paper reports the progress of biodiesel production with enzymatic catalysis in Beijing University of Chemical Technology, one of the leaders in biodiesel R & D in China, which includes screening of high-yield lipase production strains, optimization and scale-up of the lipase fermentation process, lipase immobilization, bioreactor development and scale-up, biodiesel separation and purification and the by-product glycerol utilization. Firstly, lipase fermentation was carried out at industrial scale with the 5 m3 stirred tank bioreactor, and the enzyme activity as high as 8 000 IU/mL was achieved by the species Candida sp. 99-125. Then, the lipase was purified and immobilized on textile membranes. Furthermore, biodiesel production was performed in the 5 m3 stirred tank bioreactor with an enzyme dosage as low as 0.42%, and biodiesel that met the German biodiesel standard was produced. And in the meantime, the byproduct glycerol was used for the production of 1,3-propanediol to partly offset the production cost of biodiesel, and 76.1 g/L 1,3-propanediol was obtained in 30 L fermentor with the species Klebsiella pneumoniae.