Browsing by Author "Niikura, Fumiya"

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Cleaner and Sustainable Synthesis of High Quality Monoglycerides by use of Enzyme Technologies: Techno-economic and Environmental study for Monolaurin
(2022-09) Mustafa, Ahmad; Fathy, Sara; Kutlu, Ozben; Niikura, Fumiya; Inayat, Abrar; Mustafa, Muhammad; Abdellatie, Tamer M.M.; Bokhari, Awais; Samuel, David; Pastore, Carlo; Bitonto, Luigi; Mohsen, Reham
Currently, monoglycerides (MG) are produced using a complicated energy intensive technology that contributes negatively toward greenhouse gas mitigation. This work suggests a cleaner and simpler one-step enzymatic production of α-monolaurin in an inert membrane reactor, where the reaction and enzyme separation are conducted simultaneously in one unit. Candida antarctica lipase (Lipozyme 435) was used to catalyze the esterification reaction between lauric acid and glycerin in a solvent-free system under mild temperatures. Response surface methodology was used to optimize the reaction conditions. The optimal conditions were a molecular sieve of 14.85% w/w, a temperature of 56.95°C, an enzyme amount of 5.38% w/w, and a molar ratio of 4.75% w/w. The gas chromatography (GC) analysis showed that the α-monolaurin percentage was 49.5% when the enzymatic process (ENZ) was used. The conventional chemical (CHEM) and autocatalytic (AUT) esterification methods were also performed to study their proportional MG yields. The GC results showed the MG percentages of 43.9% and 41.7% for CHEM and AUT, respectively. Economic analysis was also conducted for the suggested enzymatic technique, and the findings were compared with those of the CHEM and AUT technologies. Using a plant capacity of 4950 t/year and 11% interest for the proposed ENZ process, the total capital investment of α-monolaurin production was preferably four times less than that of the CHEM process and three times less than that of the AUT method, presenting investment possibilities. However, the ENZ process showed the least profitability (net profit per day) among the three processes. Nevertheless, the return on investment and net present value for the ENZ process were preferably higher than those of CHEM and AUT because of its interestingly lower inside battery limit plant cost and less energy consumption. The AUT/CHEM processes generated a total carbon dioxide (CO2 ) exhaust of t CO2 678.7 eq./year. In contrast, the ENZ process exhausted a total CO2 of only 50 t CO2 eq./year. The present integrated techno-economic and environmental study of α-monolaurin production emphasizes the green and cost benefits of the proposed ENZ technology.
Green synthesis of isopropyl palmitate using immobilized Candida antarctica lipase: Process optimization using response surface methodology
(Elsevier, 2022-06) Mustafa, Ahmad; Niikura, Fumiya
This work aims to produce isopropyl palmitate (IPP), a common emollient ester in a solvent-free system. An esterification reaction between isopropyl alcohol (IPA) and palmitic acid (PA) was performed in a closed batch reactor using immobilized Candida antarctica lipase as a biocatalyst. Reaction conditions were optimized using response surface methodology based on a five-level, three-variable composite design. The interactive effects of conditions on the IPP yield were investigated in the following ranges: IPA-to-PA molar ratio of 3:1–15:1, 1%–4% (w/w) Novozym 435, and 1%–10% (w/w) molecular sieves. The optimum conditions were IPA-to-PA molar ratio of 15:1, 4% w/w of Novozym 435, and 10% w/w of molecular sieves at 60◦C and 150 RPM for 2.5 h. The maximum experimental and predicted conversion values were 90.00% and 90.92%, respectively. Moreover, Novozym 435 exhibited remarkable operational stability because it was used for 15 cycles without considerably losing its original activity. In studying the feasibility of the proposed method, a process flow diagram was suggested to perform the semicontinuous production of IPP in a solvent-free medium
Highly selective synthesis of glyceryl monostearate via lipase catalyzed esterification of triple pressed stearic acid and glycerin
(Elsevier Ltd., 2023-04) Mustafa, Ahmad; Ramadan, Rehab; Niikura, Fumiya; Inayat, Abrar; Hafez, H
The synthesis of value-added products from glycerin is an attractive research area that aims to valorize this abundant by-product of the biodiesel industry. Thus, raising the economic feasibility and mitigating the envi- ronmental consequences. In this work, an alternative green, energy-efficient, and selective enzymatic (ENZ) esterification of triple-pressed stearic acid (TPSA) and glycerin was carried out to produce glyceryl monostearate (GMS). Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize the reaction conditions; the optimum con- ditions were a 6:1 glycerin to TPSA molar ratio, 8% w/w Lipozyme 435 amount, and 350% w/w solvent amount. It is worth mentioning that the solvent addition greatly enhanced the yield of GMS compared to the conventional autocatalytic esterification (AUT) process. The proposed ENZ approach was also economically assessed, and the findings were compared to those of the AUT method. Considering a plant capacity of 4,950 t year− 1 and an interest of 11%, the total capital investment of the ENZ GMS production was 1.8 times cheaper than the AUT process, suggesting a favorable investment opportunity. In addition, the positively obtained net present value (NPV) and return on investment (ROI) for the ENZ process’s total production costs reveal the proposed method’s economic feasibility. The suggested approach for synthesizing GMS can be seen as a baseline for a cleaner large- scale monoglycerides synthesis
Selective synthesis of alpha monoglycerides by a clean method: Techno-economic and environmental assessment
(Elsevier, 2022-04-12) Mustafa, Ahmad; Niikura, Fumiya; Pastore, Carlo; Allam, Hoda A; Hassan, Omnia Bassam; Mustafa, Muhamad; Inayat, Abrar; Salah, Sameh A; Abdel Salam, Ahmed; Mohsen, Reham
This work proposes an alternative green and selective biocatalytic route for Glycerin Mono- stearate (α-monostearin) production. The conventional method of production uses an elevated temperature. Apart from the high energy consumption, such high temperatures darken the final product’s color, lead to random reactions, and produce high orders of diglycerides and tri- glycerides instead of monoglycerides. The proposed production process was performed by esterifying stearic acid with glycerin in an organic medium using Candida antarctica lipase (Novozym 435) at a mild temperature. The reaction conditions were optimized using the response surface methodology (RSM): optimum conditions were a temperature of 60 ◦C, glycerin to stearic acid molar ratio of 8:1, and Novozym 435 amount of 6% w/w. The solvent addition remarkably improved the α-monostearin yield to nearly 80% without the need for the energy-intensive distillation step. The conventional autocatalytic esterification (AUT) process was also per- formed to investigate the comparative monoglyceride yield, and it was found to be 22.5%. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance and gas-chromatography confirmed that α-monostearin could be produced with the highest purity using the proposed enzymatic method (ENZ). Economic and environmental analyses were also conducted for the proposed ENZ process, and the results were compared with those of the AUT process. The total capital investment of α-monostearin pro- duction, considering a projected capacity of 4950 t year− 1 and 11% interest for the proposed ENZ process, was favorably 2.5 times lower than that of the AUT process, suggesting a promising investment opportunity. However, the total production costs showed unfavorable negative net present value (NPV) and return on investment (ROI) for the ENZ process and favorable positive NPV and ROI for the AUT process, indicating that the proposed venture is not profitable for α-monostearin production. However, the process can be profitable at improved operational sta- bility of Novozym 435 up to 1 kg per 3-ton product. The carbon footprint was calculated on the basis of the given capacity and conditions of 50 and 656 t CO2 eq./year for the ENZ and AUT processes, respectively. The synthesis of α-monostearin using the proposed route can be consid- ered a building block toward a cleaner large-scale production of α-monoglycerides.