Esterification ethyl-oleate production

Figueiredo K C S, SaUm VMM and Borges C P (2010), Ethyl oleate production by means of pervaporation-assisted esterification using heterogeneous catalysis ,... 

A membrane cell recycle reactor with continuous ethanol extraction by dibutyl phthalate increased the productivity fourfold with increased conversion of glucose from 45 to 91%.249 The ethanol was then removed from the dibutyl phthalate with water. It would be better to do this second step with a membrane. In another process, microencapsulated yeast converted glucose to ethanol, which was removed by an oleic acid phase containing a lipase that formed ethyl oleate.250 This could be used as biodiesel fuel. Continuous ultrafiltration has been used to separate the propionic acid produced from glycerol by a Propionibacterium.251 Whey proteins have been hydrolyzed enzymatically and continuously in an ultrafiltration reactor, with improved yields, productivity, and elimination of peptide coproducts.252 Continuous hydrolysis of a starch slurry has been carried out with a-amylase immobilized in a hollow fiber reactor.253 Oils have been hydrolyzed by a lipase immobilized on an aromatic polyamide ultrafiltration membrane with continuous separation of one product through the membrane to shift the equilibrium toward the desired products.254 Such a process could supplant the current energy-intensive industrial one that takes 3-24 h at 150-260X. Lipases have also been used to prepare esters. A lipase-surfactant complex in hexane was used to prepare a wax ester found in whale oil, by the esterification of 1 hexadecanol with palmitic acid in a membrane reactor.255 After 1 h, the yield was 96%. The current industrial process runs at 250°C for up to 20 h. 

In situ product separation by distillation offers applications in esterification (e.g., for ethyl acetate), trans-esterification (e.g., for butyl acetate), hydrolysis (e.g., for ethylene glycol, isopropyl alcohol), metathesis (e.g., for methyl oleate), etherification (e.g., for MTBE, ETBE, TAME), and alkylation reactions (e.g., for cumene). 

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