A kinetic study on lipase-catalyzed interesterification of soybean oil with oleic acid in a continuous packed-bed reactor

To provide a mathematical basis for the design and operation of a continuous, packed-bed reactor for the interesterification of soybean oil, soybean oil that contains 22.7% oleoyl and 54.3% linoleoyl moieties as molar acyl moiety composition was interesterified in hexane with oleic acid, using an immobilized sn-1,3-specific lipase (Lipozyme IM) from Mucor miehei. The reaction was carried out in a U-shaped Pyrex glass-made packed-bed reactor at 37°C in the following system: concentration of soybean oil in the feed stream=12.5 wt%, molar ratio of fatty acid to soybean oil=3.0, and water content in the feed stream=1340–2340 ppm. At these water contents, Lipozyme IM gave practically the same catalytic activity, and the content of triacylglycerols in the product oil was 91–94 wt%. Rate equations for the change in oleoyl and linoleoyl moiety compositions in soybean oil were derived and their validity was confirmed experimentally. On the other hand, the catalytic activity of Lipozyme IM decayed in the first-order fashion. Based on these deactivation kinetics, the flow rate of the feed stream is simulated for the operation of a continuous, packed-bed reactor at 37°C that produces an oil of a fixed composition of oleoyl moiety.