Fatty acid ethyl esters production from distillers corn oil by enzymatic catalysis

Distillers corn oil (DCO), a by-product from the corn ethanol production, is an alternative source of glycerides to produce biodiesel. In the present work, this feedstock was enzymatically converted into fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEE). DCO presented relative density of 0.912 g/cm(3), peroxide index of 3.05 +/- 0.3 (meq/1000 g of sample) and acidity of 13.1 +/- 1.96 (wt.%), with prevalence of the oleic (18:1) and linoleic (18:2) acids (sum equal to 76.9%). Three strategies were evaluated to improve the FAEE content: ethanol stepwise addition (ethanol:oil molar ratio of 4:1 (1/2 of ethanol at 0 and 1.5 h) and 3:1 (1/3 of ethanol at 0 h and 2/3 at 1.5 h or 1/3 of ethanol at 0, 1 and 2 h)); consecutive reactions (with Novozym 40086 [Rhizomucor miehei lipase] as biocatalyst); and mixture of enzymes (Novozym 40086 (6 wt.%) + Novozym 435 (Candida antarctica B lipase) (2 wt.%). The concept of combi-lipases was evaluated for the first time using this raw material, resulting in a high ester content (>96%). The higher ester yields attained with DCO, compared to refined corn oil (33%) can be related to the better solubilization of ethanol and/or glycerol by-product in the medium with DCO. The combi-lipase system kept high than 80% of this initial activity after three repeated batches of reaction. The use of DCO enables the integration of corn ethanol and biodiesel production within the same general facility, which has logistic, environmental and, economic relevance.