Production of Biodiesel from Waste Grease Trap Oil with Whole Cell Biocatalysts in Solvent-free System

Technology Overview: The common biodiesel a mixture of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) is receiving increasing attention as a clean and renewable energy. FAMEs are commonly produced by methanolysis of vegetable oils and animal fats using base catalysts but it suffers from the high costs of feedstock. Low cost waste grease is an attractive feedstock but due to the high free fatty acid (FFA) content (>15 wt%) grease cannot be converted into biodiesel via base-catalysis. A possible solution is the use of biocatalysts to perform high-yielding transformation of both free fatty acids (FFA) and triglyceride from grease with methanol to FAMEs via a one-pot reaction (esterification / transesterification). Alternatively these catalysts can also be used to convert the high amount of FFA in grease to FAMEs via esterification with methanol as the efficient pretreatment step and the remaining triglyceride in grease can be easily converted to FAMEs via conventional base-catalysis. This invention relates to the use of specific whole cell biocatalysts for the production of FAMEs. The yield is very high the recycling of whole cell biocatalyst can be performed via a simple means of physical separation and the catalyst remains high productivity after > 4 cycles. Technology Features: · Low cost and high-yielding production of biodiesel from waste grease · Catalyst can be used in both a one-pot reaction or in a 2-step reaction for production of biodiesel · Whole cell biocatalyst can be easily produced in large amount easily recycled and retain high productivity after > 4 cycles · Raw materials are waste product and available at low price Applications: · Biodiesel production from oil trap grease / brown grease Patent: · Patent Pending Opportunity: · Licensing · Partnership for further development