Potential of using a fungal lipase for biodiesel production from hempseed oils

Northland Biodegradation Marketing Inc.加拿大雷霆湾（安大略）的生物柴油公司对在加拿大开发生物柴油的原料、转化工艺和合适的区域原料的可扩展性感兴趣。该公司寻求研究方法，以简化植物种子油转酯成生物燃料（生物柴油）的过程，以替代汽车运输的石油燃料。与生物柴油生产中的化学催化酯交换反应相比，酶（脂肪酶）等生物催化剂具有明显的经济和工艺优势。北国生物燃料公司对探索和利用大麻植物种子油生产生物柴油的潜力特别感兴趣;大麻是一种适合北方安大略地区种植的经济作物。该提议的目的是使用来自葡萄座腔菌（Botryosphaeria ribis）（EC-01）的新型真菌脂肪酶，该脂肪酶已知具有适合于植物油的酯交换反应的工业应用的独特性质和特异性。本研究将探讨该脂肪酶在以大麻籽油为原料生产生物柴油中的应用。大麻籽油将通过脂肪酶催化的水解和甲醇酯化反应（酯交换反应）转化为脂肪酸甲酯（构成生物柴油）。采用统计学设计的实验方法，对大麻籽油脂肪酶酯交换反应的条件进行了研究和优化。这将建立脂肪酶可以有效地将大麻籽油转化为生物柴油的过程，并将决定未来的商业生产规模。

Northland Biodiesel Marketing Inc. of Thunder Bay (Ontario) has interest in the development of biodiesel in Canada with regard to feedstock, conversion processes and scalability of suitable regional feedstocks. The company seeks ways in which research can simplify processes for the transesterification of plant seed oils into biofuels (biodiesel) that can substitute for petroleum fuels for motor transport. Biocatalysts such as enzymes (lipases) have distinct economic and process advantages over chemical-catalysed transesterification reactions in biodiesel production. Northland Biodiesel is particularly interested in the potential of exploring and exploiting biodiesel derived from the seed oils of the hemp plant; a cash crop suitable for cultivation in the northern Ontario region. The objective of this proposal is to use a novel fungal lipase from Botryosphaeria ribis (EC-01) known to possess unique properties and specificities suitable for industrial applications in transesterification reactions of plant oils. The research proposed will explore the applicability of this lipase for the production of biodiesel using hempseed oil as the feedstock for bioconversion. Hempseed oils will be converted through lipase-catalysed hydrolysis and methanol esterification reactions (transesterification) to methyl esters of fatty acids (constitutes biodiesel). Conditions for transesterification of hempseed oil by lipase will be examined and optimized using statistical designed experiments. This will establish the process by which lipase can efficiently transform hempseed oil into biodiesel, and will govern future scale-up for commercial production.