French researchers develop enzymatic reactor process

Biodiesel Magazine
By Luke Geiver July 08, 2011

A new biocatalyst developed in a chromatography tube at the Centre de Recherches Paul Pascal (CRPP), could greatly improve continuous biodiesel production processes. According to Renal Backov, professor at CRPP, there are two main features of the enzymatic catalyst that will help improve the process. For one, Backov told Biodiesel Magazine, the enzymes are used without being purified, which Backov said, “enhanced their stability while minimizing the whole catalyst price.” The second feature of the catalyst relates to the size. “We are dealing with macroporous (pore diameters of micrometers) hosts and not mesoporous (pore diameters of nanometers).” This feature, he said, optimizes the enzyme’s accessibility and minimizes the loss of pressure between the entry and the end of the column.”

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