Study on Immobilized Lipase Catalyzed Transesterification Reaction of Tung Oil

The transesterification reaction conditions of tung oil with methanol have been studied in this article, with immobilized lipase NOVO435 as catalyst. The response surface methodology was used to optimize the transesterification reaction of tung oil in a nonsolvent system. The optimal conditions were rotation rate 200 r/min, molar ratio of methanol to oil 2.2:1, reaction temperature 43°C, and the catalyst amount 14% (based on the weight of oil). After reacting for 18 h, 67.5% of the oil was converted to its corresponding methyl esters (the theoretical ester conversion was 73.3%). The lipase was washed by organic solvents after each reaction and was reused again. The esters conversion of tung oil was decreased by 6% after the lipase was reused for 120 h. The theoretical amount of methanol was added in two steps, 85% ester conversion was obtained after 36 h of reaction (theoretical ester conversion was 100%). The molar ratio of methanol to oil, the catalyst amount, the reaction temperature, and reaction time were all highly significant factors, and there was a relative significant interaction between every two factors.