This thesis investigates an application of immobilized lipase for pre-treating wastewater containing fats and oils, which is difficult to treat practically. The kinetics of soluble lipase was studied for establishing background of the lipase. The immobilization of lipase was adopted in order to repeatedly use the expensive lipase. The developed immobilization methods were based on the characteristics of carriers, but covalent bonding of lipase was preferred because of strong adsorption nature. Three types of materials, nylon membrane and polystyrene-divinylbenzene and silica gel beads, were used for studying the lipase immobilization characteristics. The lipase from Canada rugosa was chosen because of its relatively high catalytic activity and commercial availability. The oily wastewater sources used were a simulated mixture of olive oil and distilled water as well as actual restaurant oily wastewater. A packed bed reactor packed with immobilized lipase was suitable for the study. Moreover, a comparative study of anaerobic digestion of lipase treated and un-treated oily wastewater was undertaken to evaluate the efficiency of the lipase pre-treatment method due to lack of the relevant literature in the enzymatic wastewater treatment field. The kinetics of lipase catalyzed hydrolysis reactions was investigated in a stirred tank reactor. The experimental results confirmed that the lipase catalyzed reaction obeyed Michaelis-Menten model. The optimal pH and temperature of the lipase catalysed hydrolysis reaction were 7 and 37°C, respectively. The conversion of oil to fatty acid was dependent on the reaction time and mass of the enzyme used. The lipase activities depended on the concentrations of some selected additives. Calcium ion improved lipase activity significantly amongst the additives used. / The immobilization of lipase was carried out using different materials, nylon membranes, polystyrene-divinylbenzene beads, and silica gel. Covalent adsorption was simple and successful for immobilizing the lipase onto nylon membrane which was pre-treated with HC1 solution for releasing amino groups. The adsorption of lipase was completed after only a 2-hour reaction time. It was much more practical for this shorter adsorption time (2 hours) rather than the 24 hours required for physical capillary adsorption of lipase. The properties of the immobilized lipase and the performance of the reactors we compared amongst the soluble and immobilized lipase forms. The immobilization, particularly for covalent bonding, made lipase more resistant to thermal deactivation. It was evident that the optimum temperature was shifted from 37°C for the soluble lipase to 45 and 40°C for immobilized lipase adsorbed onto nylon and polystyrene-divinylbenzene beads, respectively. The immobilized lipase could be used repeatedly with only little activity loss. The repeatedly operational stability made the reuse of the immobilized lipase possible. Comparison was also made between two types of beads, polystyrene-divinylbenzene beads and silica gels. Though polystyrene-divinylbenzene beads showed higher lipase activity and shorter adsorption time when compared to silica gels, the forme beads were not suggested for large scale study because of high cost of the beads. On improvement achieved in this work was that the 24 hours required for silanization of silica gel was reduced to only a few hours using evaporating 3-APTES in acetone instead of refluxing 3-APTES in toluene. / It is worthwhile to point out that much higher enzyme activity was obtained using the packed bed reactor as against the membrane reactor when aqueous oil emulsion was fed into the reactors. The lipase activity was 64.2% of soluble lipase activity for the immobilized lipase in the packed reactor but its activity was hardly detectable in the membrane reactor. Moreover, the operation of the packed bed reactor solved the of separating problem that severely hampered the lipase catalytic activity in the membrane reactor in aqueous phase. This result suggests that the packed bed reacts with the immobilized lipase is applicable in treating oily wastewater. The intrinsic parameters, Vmax and Km, were evaluated to study the internal diffusional effects of the porous spherical silica gel on the immobilized lipase. The changes of Vmax and Km for the immobilized lipase from those of the soluble lipase indicated that some alteration in the lipase intrinsic properties was caused by the immobilization of lipase. However, the magnitude of Thiele modulus suggested the immobilized lipase was most likely reaction controlling. In addition, good agreement for Vmax and Km from experiments and numerical model estimations seemed to suggest that the numerical model could be used for estimating Vmax and Km for the immobilized lipase. / An application was tried for conducting the hydrolysis of oily restaurant wastewater by soluble and the immobilized lipase. Enzyme activity of both forms was severely inhibited by the oily wastewater. The enzymatic activity was only 20% and 15% for soluble and the immobilized lipase, respectively, when compared to the initial activity value for the hydrolysis of olive oil by soluble lipase. Evaluation of the efficiency for the proposed lipase pre-treatment method was carried out by monitoring the performance of two anaerobic digesters. These two digesters were fed with lipase treated and untreated restaurant wastewater that was neutralised with KOH solution prior to feeding. The oil-floating problem was minimised by this saponification of fatty acids with potassium hydroxide. However, there was no clear sign of an improvement for the treatment efficiency of the anaerobic digesters in terms of COD removal and methane production rate resulted in digesting lipase treated oily wastewater when compared to the one without lipase pre-treatment.

O presente trabalho teve como objetivo o aproveitamento da matéria-prima residual óleo fúsel como fonte de baixo custo de álcool isoamílico para a síntese de ésteres com diferentes propriedades pela rota enzimática. Utilizou-se como proposta a esterificação do óleo fúsel com ácidos carboxílicos de diferentes tamanhos de cadeia carbônica mediada pela enzima lipase em processos descontínuo ou contínuo, visando obter produtos com propriedades aromáticas, emulsificantes e lubrificantes. A lipase selecionada de Rhizopus oryzae foi posteriormente imobilizada em diferentes suportes sílica-β-ciclodextrina (SiO2- βCD), sílica-hidroxietilcelulose (SiO2-HEC) ou co-polímero de estireno de divinilbenzeno (STY-DVB) e utilizada como biocatalisador para mediar as reações de esterificação do óleo fusel com os ácidos caprílico, láurico e oleico. Entre os suportes testados, apenas a sílica-hidroxietilcelulose (SiO2-HEC) apresentou resultados insatisfatórios em função da elevada afinidade desta matriz em adsorver a água formada como subproduto na reação de esterificação. Para cada par de óleo fúsel e ácido carboxílico, as condições adequadas para obtenção dos produtos alvos foram estabelecidas e os produtos resultantes analisados de acordo com a finalidade proposta. No caso do caprilato de isoamila, as condições reacionais foram determinadas por planejamento experimental, indicando que a formação do éster foi influenciada somente pela variável razão molar ao nível de 95% de confiança. O modelo matemático proposto permitiu prever as condições que favorecem o alcance de elevados rendimentos de formação do éster, sendo a reação maximizada (82% em 24 h) para meios reacionais constituídos de óleo fúsel e ácido caprílico na razão molar de 1:1,5 e temperatura de 45 ºC. O perfil sensorial do éster foi confirmado com auxílio do nariz eletrônico. Com relação ao laurato de isoamila foi possível estabelecer o processo em regime continuo utilizando a lipase de Rhizopus oryzae imobilizada em STY-DVB operando o sistema com concentrações elevadas do substrato que forneceu produtividades elevadas (1598,68 ± 135,79 μmol g-1 min-1) do éster com excelente capacidade de dispersão de pigmentos que pode ser utilizado na formulação de cosméticos com rotulagem de produto natural. Finalmente, com relação ao éster oleato de isoamila, foi constatado limitado desempenho da lipase Rhizopus oryzae imobilizada em STY-DVB devido baixa atividade sintética deste biocatalisador para ácidos carboxílicos insaturados. Mesmo assim, foi possível obter produtividades volumétricas da ordem de 286, 20 ± 18,46 μmol g-1 min-1, utilizando uma configuração de reator de leito empacotado em dois estágios acoplado a uma coluna extratora de água. As propriedades do produto formado atenderam as especificações recomendas para uso como biolubrificante. Desta forma, o presente projeto de tese demonstrou a potencialidade da aplicação do óleo fusel como fonte de baixo custo do álcool isoamílico na obtenção ésteres com propriedades adequadas para uso como aroma, emulsificante e lubrificante. O aproveitamento deste resíduo não somente retira um composto indesejado do meio ambiente, mas também permite a geração de diferentes produtos de interesse industrial, constituindo-se, assim, em um forte apelo ambiental. / The aim of the present work was to investigate the feasibility of using fusel oil as a source of low cost feedstock based on isoamyl alcohol for the synthesis of esters with different properties by enzymatic route. For this, it was proposed to perform the esterification reaction of fusel oil with carboxylic acids with different sizes of carbonic chain mediated by the enzyme lipase under batch or continuous runs, in order to obtain products with aromatic, emulsifying and lubricant properties. Rhizopus oryzae lipase immobilized on different supports silica-β-cyclodextrin (SiO2-βCD), silica-hydroxyethylcellulose (SiO2- HEC) or co-polymer of styrene divinylbenzene (STY-DVB) were chosen as biocatalysts to mediate the esterification reactions of fusel oil with caprylic, lauric and oleic acids. Among the supports tested, only the silica hydroxyethylcellulose (SiO2-HEC) provided unsatisfactory results due to its high affinity to adsorb the water generated as byproduct. For each pair of fusel oil and carboxylic acid, appropriate conditions for obtaining the target product were established, and the resulting product further analyzed according to its proposed use. In the case of isoamyl caprylate, reaction conditions were determined by factorial design, indicating that the ester formation was influenced only by the molar ratio at 95% of confidence level. The proposed mathematical model allowed predicting the conditions that favor the achievement of high yields of ester formation, being maximized (82% in 24 h) with substrate consisting of fusel oil and caprylic acid at molar ratio of 1:1.5 and temperature of 45°C. The sensory profile of the ester was confirmed with help of the electronic nose. With respect to isoamyl laurate it was possible to establish a stable process under continuous flow using Rhizopus oryzae lipase immobilized on STY-DVB feeding the reactor with high substrate concentrations, providing high ester productivity (1598.68 ± 135.79 g-1 μmol min-1) with excellent dispensability of pigments that can be used in cosmetic formulation label as natural product. Finally, with regards to the isoamyl oleate, the performance of Rhizopus oryzae lipase immobilized on STY-DVB was limited due to its low activity towards unsaturated carboxylic acids. Still, it was possible to obtain volumetric productivity of about 286. 20 ± 18.46 μmol g-1 min-1 using two-stage packed bed reactor coupled with a water column extraction. The properties of the formed product meet the specifications recommend for use as biolubricant. In this way, this work demonstrated the feasibility of applying the fusel oil as a source of low-cost isoamyl alcohol to obtain esters with appropriate properties for use as flavor, emulsifier or lubricant. The use of this waste material not only removes unwanted compounds from the environment, but also allows the generation of different products of industrial interest, thus having a strong environmental appeal.

Este trabalho teve como objetivo sintetizar o palmitato de isopropila, éster emoliente, empregando como biocatalisador lipases microbianas imobilizadas em partículas de poli(estireno-co-divinilbenzeno) (STY-DVB-M) obtidas por meio da técnica de polimerização em suspensão e magnetizadas por co-precipitação de íons de Fe +2 e Fe +3 em meio básico. Inicialmente, a influência da concentração do agente de suspensão e da agitação na distribuição granulométrica do polímero sintetizado foi avaliada por planejamento experimental 2 2, com triplicata no ponto central. As polimerizações que resultaram nas maiores quantidades de partículas com tamanhos apropriados para utilização como suporte para imobilização (entre 80 e 24 mesh), foram obtidas empregando as seguintes condições experimentais: 1% de agente de suspensão (PVA) e 400 rpm de agitação. O suporte obtido foi utilizado para imobilizar a lipase de Candida rugosa (LCR) e lipase de Penicillium camemberti (LG) via adsorção física e os biocatalisadores resultantes aplicados em reações de esterificação do ácido palmítico com isopropanol em meio heptano. Para cada biocatalisador foi adotado um planejamento experimental estrela rotacional 22, com triplicata no ponto central para avaliar a influência da concentração de biocatalisador (% m/v) e da razão molar (ácido:álcool) no rendimento de esterificação. Nas condições otimizadas em 12 h de reação foram obtidos 75,60 e 88,53% de rendimento de esterificação, respectivamente, para a LCR e LG imobilizada em STY-DVB-M. A quantidade de água formada durante o bioprocesso não foi considerada fator relevante para interferir no progresso da síntese. O biocatalisador obtido pela LG imobilizada em STY-DVB-M foi empregado em biorreator de tanque agitado (280 mL), na condição ótima, em um experimento com ampliação de escala, atingindo 85,68% de rendimento em 12 horas de reação. No entanto, foi observado cisalhamento do suporte em função da agitação mecânica, optando-se pela realização do bioprocesso em biorreator de leito fixo (dimensões: 11 mm de diâmetro interno x 16,6 mm de comprimento) com recirculação do meio reacional (1,5 mL.min-1). A operação do sistema nesta configuração foi impossibilitada pela evaporação e/ou percolação do solvente. Assim, foram realizadas reações em reator de leito fixo em meio isento de solvente nas seguintes razões molares: 1:3, 1:4 e 1:6 (ácido:álcool), cujos melhores resultados foram obtidos na razão molar de 1:4, apresentando 56% de rendimento, 215,88 g.L-1 do palmitato de isopropila e produtividade de 26,87 g.L-1.h-1, decorridas 8h de reação com vazão de reciclo de 1,5 mLmin-1. O emprego de peneira molecular no reservatório do substrato proporcionou um acréscimo de aproximadamente 7% na formação do éster. Essa mesma condição experimental (1:4 em meio isento de solvente) foi testada em reator de tanque agitado, atingindo produtividade de 33,40 g.L-1.h-1 em 8h de reação. No entanto, em função da desvantagem do cisalhamento do suporte constatada neste tipo de biorreator, concluiu-se que o biorreator de leito fixo foi a configuração mais adequada, para a condução do bioprocesso estudado, apresentando viabilidade do processo enzimático empregando lipase imobilizada em suporte híbrido magnetizado para a síntese do palmitato de isopropila. / The aim of this study was to synthesize isopropyl palmitate, an emollient ester, using as biocatalyst microbial lipase immobilized on magnetic copolymer. The support was prepared by suspension polymerization technique using styrene and divinylbenzene monomers in the presence of magnetite particles synthesized by co-precipitation of Fe+2 and Fe+3. The influence of the suspending agent concentration and the mechanical agitation on the granulometric distribution of the synthesized polymer was assessed by a 22 factorial design with triplicate at central point. The statistical analysis indicated that the optimal experimental conditions to obtain the largest amount of particles with suitable size (between 80 and 24 mesh) to be used as immobilizing support were attained at 1% suspending agent (PVA) at 400 rpm stirring. The resulting support was used to immobilize Candida rugosa lipase (LCR) and Penicillium camemberti lipase (LG) by physical adsorption and applied in the esterification reaction of palmitic acid with isopropyl alcohol in presence of solvent (heptane). For each biocatalyst a central composite 22 experimental design with triplicate at central point was performed to determine the influence of biocatalyst concentration (% m/v) and molar ratio (acid: alcohol) on the reaction yield. Under the optimal conditions higher performance was achieved by LG immobilized on STY-DVB-M (88.53%) than LCR immobilized on STYDVB-M (75.60%) with shaking at 12 hours reaction. For both reactions the amount of water formed as byproduct was not found to be a relevant factor that interferes in the synthesis progress. The most activity immobilized biocatalyst (LG STY-DVB-M) was used in agitated tank bioreactor (280 mL), under optimized conditions, in an experiment with scale-up, reaching 85.68% yield in 12 hours. However, it has been observed that the support was low mechanical shear and therefore an attempted was made to run the reaction in a packed bed bioreactor (dimensions: 11 mm internal diameter x 16,6 mm length) with recirculation of the reaction medium (1,5 mL.min-1). The system could not be operated under this configuration because of solvent evaporation and/or percolation. Thereby, the reactions were carried out in packed bed reactor using solvent-free medium under the following molar ratios: 1:3, 1:4 and 1:6 (acid: alcohol). The best performance (56% yield, 215.88 g L-1 of isopropyl palmitate and 26.87 gL-1.h-1 of productivity) was attained running the reactor with substrate at molar ratio of acid to alcohol of 1:4 for 8 hours with recycle rate of 1,5 mL.min-1. The use of a molecular sieve in the substrate reservoir resulted in an increase of approximately 7% of ester formation. By comparison, esterification run under the same experimental condition (1:4 in solvent-free medium) was carried out in a stirred tank reactor and slight higher productivity (33.40 g.L-1.h-1) was achieved. However, due the shear limitation of the support, it was concluded that the most suitable configuration for this bioprocess is the packed bed bioreactor, thereby showing that the enzymatic process is feasible using lipase immobilized on a magnetized hybrid support for isopropyl palmitate synthesis.

Este trabalho teve como objetivo sintetizar o palmitato de isopropila, éster emoliente, empregando como biocatalisador lipases microbianas imobilizadas em partículas de poli(estireno-co-divinilbenzeno) (STY-DVB-M) obtidas por meio da técnica de polimerização em suspensão e magnetizadas por co-precipitação de íons de Fe +2 e Fe +3 em meio básico. Inicialmente, a influência da concentração do agente de suspensão e da agitação na distribuição granulométrica do polímero sintetizado foi avaliada por planejamento experimental 2 2, com triplicata no ponto central. As polimerizações que resultaram nas maiores quantidades de partículas com tamanhos apropriados para utilização como suporte para imobilização (entre 80 e 24 mesh), foram obtidas empregando as seguintes condições experimentais: 1% de agente de suspensão (PVA) e 400 rpm de agitação. O suporte obtido foi utilizado para imobilizar a lipase de Candida rugosa (LCR) e lipase de Penicillium camemberti (LG) via adsorção física e os biocatalisadores resultantes aplicados em reações de esterificação do ácido palmítico com isopropanol em meio heptano. Para cada biocatalisador foi adotado um planejamento experimental estrela rotacional 22, com triplicata no ponto central para avaliar a influência da concentração de biocatalisador (% m/v) e da razão molar (ácido:álcool) no rendimento de esterificação. Nas condições otimizadas em 12 h de reação foram obtidos 75,60 e 88,53% de rendimento de esterificação, respectivamente, para a LCR e LG imobilizada em STY-DVB-M. A quantidade de água formada durante o bioprocesso não foi considerada fator relevante para interferir no progresso da síntese. O biocatalisador obtido pela LG imobilizada em STY-DVB-M foi empregado em biorreator de tanque agitado (280 mL), na condição ótima, em um experimento com ampliação de escala, atingindo 85,68% de rendimento em 12 horas de reação. No entanto, foi observado cisalhamento do suporte em função da agitação mecânica, optando-se pela realização do bioprocesso em biorreator de leito fixo (dimensões: 11 mm de diâmetro interno x 16,6 mm de comprimento) com recirculação do meio reacional (1,5 mL.min-1). A operação do sistema nesta configuração foi impossibilitada pela evaporação e/ou percolação do solvente. Assim, foram realizadas reações em reator de leito fixo em meio isento de solvente nas seguintes razões molares: 1:3, 1:4 e 1:6 (ácido:álcool), cujos melhores resultados foram obtidos na razão molar de 1:4, apresentando 56% de rendimento, 215,88 g.L-1 do palmitato de isopropila e produtividade de 26,87 g.L-1.h-1, decorridas 8h de reação com vazão de reciclo de 1,5 mLmin-1. O emprego de peneira molecular no reservatório do substrato proporcionou um acréscimo de aproximadamente 7% na formação do éster. Essa mesma condição experimental (1:4 em meio isento de solvente) foi testada em reator de tanque agitado, atingindo produtividade de 33,40 g.L-1.h-1 em 8h de reação. No entanto, em função da desvantagem do cisalhamento do suporte constatada neste tipo de biorreator, concluiu-se que o biorreator de leito fixo foi a configuração mais adequada, para a condução do bioprocesso estudado, apresentando viabilidade do processo enzimático empregando lipase imobilizada em suporte híbrido magnetizado para a síntese do palmitato de isopropila. / The aim of this study was to synthesize isopropyl palmitate, an emollient ester, using as biocatalyst microbial lipase immobilized on magnetic copolymer. The support was prepared by suspension polymerization technique using styrene and divinylbenzene monomers in the presence of magnetite particles synthesized by co-precipitation of Fe+2 and Fe+3. The influence of the suspending agent concentration and the mechanical agitation on the granulometric distribution of the synthesized polymer was assessed by a 22 factorial design with triplicate at central point. The statistical analysis indicated that the optimal experimental conditions to obtain the largest amount of particles with suitable size (between 80 and 24 mesh) to be used as immobilizing support were attained at 1% suspending agent (PVA) at 400 rpm stirring. The resulting support was used to immobilize Candida rugosa lipase (LCR) and Penicillium camemberti lipase (LG) by physical adsorption and applied in the esterification reaction of palmitic acid with isopropyl alcohol in presence of solvent (heptane). For each biocatalyst a central composite 22 experimental design with triplicate at central point was performed to determine the influence of biocatalyst concentration (% m/v) and molar ratio (acid: alcohol) on the reaction yield. Under the optimal conditions higher performance was achieved by LG immobilized on STY-DVB-M (88.53%) than LCR immobilized on STYDVB-M (75.60%) with shaking at 12 hours reaction. For both reactions the amount of water formed as byproduct was not found to be a relevant factor that interferes in the synthesis progress. The most activity immobilized biocatalyst (LG STY-DVB-M) was used in agitated tank bioreactor (280 mL), under optimized conditions, in an experiment with scale-up, reaching 85.68% yield in 12 hours. However, it has been observed that the support was low mechanical shear and therefore an attempted was made to run the reaction in a packed bed bioreactor (dimensions: 11 mm internal diameter x 16,6 mm length) with recirculation of the reaction medium (1,5 mL.min-1). The system could not be operated under this configuration because of solvent evaporation and/or percolation. Thereby, the reactions were carried out in packed bed reactor using solvent-free medium under the following molar ratios: 1:3, 1:4 and 1:6 (acid: alcohol). The best performance (56% yield, 215.88 g L-1 of isopropyl palmitate and 26.87 gL-1.h-1 of productivity) was attained running the reactor with substrate at molar ratio of acid to alcohol of 1:4 for 8 hours with recycle rate of 1,5 mL.min-1. The use of a molecular sieve in the substrate reservoir resulted in an increase of approximately 7% of ester formation. By comparison, esterification run under the same experimental condition (1:4 in solvent-free medium) was carried out in a stirred tank reactor and slight higher productivity (33.40 g.L-1.h-1) was achieved. However, due the shear limitation of the support, it was concluded that the most suitable configuration for this bioprocess is the packed bed bioreactor, thereby showing that the enzymatic process is feasible using lipase immobilized on a magnetized hybrid support for isopropyl palmitate synthesis.

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento CientÃfico e TecnolÃgico / Biodiesel is a mixture of fatty acid alkyl esters produced by the reaction between vegetable oils and short chain alcohols, like methanol and ethanol, using a catalyst that can be acid, basic or enzymatic. However, the high cost of the raw material when refined vegetable oil is used, have made biodiesel production economically unattractive. Therefore, research with waste oils has increased, showing the technical viability of the production of biodiesel using the residential and industrial residues as raw material. Another variable that has influenced this type of reaction is the type of alcohol. In Brazil, the use of ethanol is interesting because the country has become one of the top worldwide producers of ethanol from vegetables sources, a cheaper and less toxic product than methanol, decreasing our petroleum dependence. The type of catalyst also influences biodiesel production. Alkali is the catalysts that is more often used in industry, but when the vegetable oil has a high acid value, it can not be used because soap is produced, diminishing the esters yield. In this case an acid or an enzyme is used as a catalyst. Based on the previous explanation, the results of this work correspond to the study of enzymatic production of biodiesel using waste oil and ethanol. The immobilized Candida antarctica lipase (Novozym 435) behavior was studied in the oleic acid esterification, studying the effect of the variables that has influence in the process. The variables chosen were: temperature (30 â 50oC), molar ratio acid:alcohol (1:1 â 1:6) and water content (0 â 20%). The reaction were performed in closed reactors with a capacity of 250 mL containing 10 g of oil, a known amount content of alcohol, pre-determined by experimental design and enzyme content of 5% p/p, based on the oil mass. The reaction medium was kept under constant stirring, 200 rpm. Maximum conversion of 88,36% was achieved when high molar ration, the lower temperature and water content values were used. However, by the kinetic study, it can be concluded that it is not necessary to use an alcohol excess to achieve good conversions. After that, the behavior of Candida Antarctica lipase B immobilized in chitosan was studied in acid oleic esterification. A slower initial rate of reaction was observed in comparison to Novozym 435. The behavior of both lipases was also studied in the esterification of waste coconut oil, showing good stability and giving a conversion of about 80% in 60 minutes. Both biocatalyst could be reused 10 times, keeping the same activity. In order to compare the behavior of Novozym 435 in two different mediums, an experimental design was performed with waste cotton oil, which had a low acid value. The same negative influence of the temperature and molar ratio was observed, but with a high reaction time, getting a maximum conversion of 82,66% in 72 hours of reaction. To calculate the conversions, the decreasing of the acid value was used when the raw material had a high acid value, and when the raw material had a low acid value the glycerol production was used. / O biodiesel à uma mistura de Ãsteres alquÃlicos de Ãcidos graxos resultante da reaÃÃo entre Ãleos vegetais e Ãlcoois de cadeia curta, como metanol ou etanol, auxiliada por um catalisador, que pode ser Ãcido, bÃsico ou enzimÃtico. Entretanto, o alto custo da matÃria-prima quando se utiliza Ãleo vegetal de grau alimentÃcio tem inviabilizado economicamente a produÃÃo desse biocombustÃvel. Por isso, as pesquisas com Ãleo residual tem aumentado, mostrando a viabilidade tÃcnica da produÃÃo de biodiesel a partir de resÃduos residenciais e industriais. Outro fator que influencia a reaÃÃo de produÃÃo de biodiesel à o tipo de Ãlcool. No Brasil, o uso do etanol à interessante desde que o nosso paÃs se tornou um dos maiores produtores mundiais de etanol vegetal, um produto mais barato e menos tÃxico que o metanol, diminuindo assim a nossa dependÃncia do petrÃleo. O catalisador tambÃm exerce influÃncia nesse tipo de reaÃÃo. Os catalisadores mais usados industrialmente sÃo as bases, mas quando o Ãleo vegetal tem um alto teor de Ãcidos graxos livres, o que acontece, geralmente, com os Ãleos residuais, nÃo à possÃvel usar catalisador bÃsico por favorecer a formaÃÃo de sabÃo e diminuir o rendimento em Ãsteres. Nesse caso, usa-se um catalisador Ãcido ou enzimÃtico. Partindo dessa premissa, os resultados constantes nessa dissertaÃÃo correspondem ao estudo da produÃÃo enzimÃtica de biodiesel utilizando Ãleo residual e etanol. Avaliou-se o comportamento da lipase comercial imobilizada de CÃndida antarctica tipo B (Novozym 435) na esterificaÃÃo do Ãcido olÃico comercial, estudando as variÃveis que influenciam no processo. As variÃveis escolhidas foram: temperatura (30-50o C), razÃo molar Ãcido:Ãlcool (1:1-1:6) e a concentraÃÃo de Ãgua presente no meio (0-20%). As reaÃÃes foram conduzidas em erlenmeyers de 250 mL fechados contendo 10 g de Ãleo e a quantidade de Ãlcool prÃ-determinada pelo planejamento de experimentos, mantendo-se a agitaÃÃo fixa em 200rpm e a concentraÃÃo de enzima em 5% m/m baseada na massa de Ãleo medida, obtendo-se uma conversÃo mÃxima de 88,36% na condiÃÃo de maior razÃo molar, menor temperatura e menor concentraÃÃo de Ãgua. Entretanto, pelo estudo cinÃtico concluÃ-se que nÃo à necessÃrio um excesso de Ãlcool para conseguir boas conversÃes. Em seguida, avaliou-se o comportamento de uma lÃpase do tipo B de CÃndida antarctica imobilizada em quitosana na esterificaÃÃo do Ãcido olÃico, observando um comportamento semelhante ao da Novozym 435 mas com uma taxa inicial de reaÃÃo mais lenta. Avaliou-se tambÃm o comportamento das duas lÃpases na esterificaÃÃo do Ãleo de coco residual Ãcido, observando uma boa estabilidade para ambos os biocatalisadores que forneceram uma conversÃo acima de 80% com 60 minutos de reaÃÃo e puderam ser reutilizados por no mÃnimo 10 vezes consecutivas sem perda considerÃvel de atividade. Para comparar o comportamento da Novozym 435 em dois meios distintos, realizou-se um planejamento experimental fatorial com um Ãleo de algodÃo residual de baixa acidez livre, observando a mesma influÃncia negativa da temperatura e da razÃo molar entre reagentes, mas com um tempo de reaÃÃo maior, pois uma conversÃo mÃxima de 82,66% sà foi atingida com 72 horas de reaÃÃo. Para o cÃlculo da conversÃo, utilizou-se a reduÃÃo do Ãndice de acidez quando a matÃria-prima tinha um alto teor de Ãcidos graxos livres e o mÃtodo do periodato de sÃdio na determinaÃÃo da glicerina quando a matÃria-prima tinha uma baixa acidez livre.