What is Metheszyme®
Metheszyme® is a key lipase designed to aid biodiesel production from oil feedstocks. This high-performance lipase outperforms chemical catalysts for industrial reliability as a robust and flexible solution that can lower operational costs.
As a biodiesel enzyme, Metheszyme® facilitates the conversion of both triglycerides and free fatty acids (FFA) into fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) under mild reaction conditions. This results in a cleaner biodiesel production process that offers higher yield and improved phase separation.
How Metheszyme® Works
Typical oils that are used to produce biodiesel include Crude Palm Oil, Palm Fatty Acid Distillate, Palm Oil Mill Effluent, Soyabean Oil Distillate, Used Cooking Oil, and Other Fatty Matter (Soapstock). These undergo transesterification to biodiesel (fatty acid methyl ester).
Metheszyme® serves as a catalyst for all three chemical reactions that are key to biodiesel production – hydrolysis, transesterification, and esterification. During hydrolysis, Metheszyme® facilitates the breakdown of triglycerides (TAG) into diglycerides (DAG), monoglycerides (MAG), and free fatty acids (FFA).
Through sequential reactions that are part of the biodiesel transesterification process, Metheszyme® converts all resulting glycerides into fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) and glycerol. The free fatty acids (FFA) formed during the hydrolysis react with methanol to produce more fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) and water.
Benefits of Metheszyme®
Opting for Metheszyme® offers the following advantages:
- Reduces energy demand and corrosion risks by lowering operational parameters.
- Suitable for a large range of feedstocks with minimal or no pretreatment.
- Purer biodiesel formation, cleaner separation of byproducts, and reduced waste generation.
- Supports carbon accounting and aligns with renewable fuel standards as a biodegradable biocatalyst.
Opting for Palm Oil Mill Effluent as the feedstock and Metheszyme® as the biodiesel enzyme, the final ester (FAME) concentration is found to be 96.34% which is roughly 4% higher than a benchmark enzyme as a catalyst. For Fatty Matter as feedstock, Metheszyme® offers 95.84% higher FAME concentration.
Additionally, using Metheszyme® as the catalyst reduces the enzymatic reaction temperature from 55 – 60 °C to 40 °C.
This data attests to the efficacy of Metheszyme® in biodiesel formation and the transesterification mechanism.
Frequently Asked Questions
Biodiesel is a renewable fuel comprised of long-chain fatty acids derived from the transesterification of biomass, such as vegetable oils, animal fats, and waste cooking oils. Its fundamental component is fatty acid methyl ester (FAME). In a comparison of biodiesel vs diesel, biodiesel is the better choice due to its renewable origin, higher flash point, and biodegradable nature.
Biodiesel is made through the transesterification mechanism, where the triglycerides are converted into fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) (the key component of biodiesel) and glycerol. Here, Metheszyme® serves as the catalyst for a more affection conversion and lowered operational parameters.
Both Metheszyme® and Key market benchmark product ET are biodiesel enzymes serving as a catalyst. However, Metheszyme® is better since it lowers the operational parameters (temperature) more than other products and gives a higher FAME percentage.
Yes. Metheszyme® works well for a range of wastes like tallow fatty acids, greases, and even feedstock blends.
