a Arab Markadeh - Department of Chemical Engineering, AmirKabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
m hajar - Department of Chemical Engineering, AmirKabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
f goudarzi - Department of Chemical Engineering, AmirKabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
s shokrollahzadeh - Department of Chemical Technologies, Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology, Tehran,Iran

Biodiesel is a sustainable fuel made from transesterification reaction of vegetable oils with short chain alcohols. Use of loofa-immobilized Rhizopus oryzae as a biocatalyst for transesterification reaction of canola oil and the effect of some parameters on biodiesel production were studied. The highest methyl ester yield of 85.3% at optimum conditions, containing 15 wt% of water and methanol to oil molar ratio of 3:1, was achieved. The performance of the reaction in a packed-bed reactor was able to produce biodiesel with a yield of 92%.

Biodiesel, Whole-cell biocatalyst, Rhizopus oryzae, Loofa, Packed-bed reactor