Abstract:
The continuous productions of biodiesel or fatty acid methyl ester, FAME with refined palm oil and methanol catalyzed by immobilized Novozym 435 in a packed-bed column reactor were tested to investigate the optimal condition as followed: type of packed column as mixed Novozym 435 and glass beads, molar ratio of oil to methanol as 1:1, temperature of reaction as 50 oC, flow rate of substrate solution as 0.20 ml/min, and amount of enzyme as 0.5 g with ratio of amount of enzyme to glass beads as 1:4 weight by weight. After producing biodiesel by using the optimal condition in 3 columns of packed-bed column reactor with 1:1 molar ratio of oil to methanol per each column, the results showed that all 3 columns produced biodiesel through all of the period, 83.33 hours with total substrate solution volume as 1 L. The %conversion of first, second, and third columns were 11.67, 16.25, and 23.42 %, and the production rates were 5.66, 7.34 and 10.06 mmole/g/h.