Kinetic studies on the Rhizomucor miehei lipase catalyzed esterification reaction of oleic acid with 1-butanol in a biphasic system

The kinetics of the esterification of oleic acid with 1 -butanol catalyzed by free Rhizomucor miehei lipase in a biphasic system was studied in a batch reactor. The reaction appeared to proceed via a Ping Pong bi-bi mechanism with I -butanol inhibition. The kinetic constants of the model were determined from experiments at 30'C with initial concentrations of 0. 1 -0.95 mol L.-rg oleic acid and 0. 1 -1 mol L.-rg 1 -butanol in the organic phase and 0.05-0.2 g L-1 enzyme in the aqueous phase. The model was used to simulate the batch concentration profiles of the product as well as the initial reaction rates. Agreement of the model with both the batch concentration profiles (average error of 7.2%) and the initial reaction rate per experiment (average error of 16.0%) was good. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.