In situ transesterification of highly wet microalgae using hydrochloric acid

Bioresource Technology
Bora KimJae W Lee

Abstract

This study addresses in situ transesterification of highly wet microalgae with hydrochloric acid (HCl) as a catalyst. In situ transesterification was performed by heating the mixture of wet algal cells, HCl, methanol, and solvent in one pot, resulting in the fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) yield over 90% at 95°C. The effects of reaction variables of temperature, amounts of catalyst, reactant, and solvent, and type of solvents on the yield were investigated. Compared with the catalytic effect of H2SO4, in situ transesterification using HCl has benefits of being less affected by moisture levels that are as high as or above 80%, and requiring less amounts of catalyst and solvent. For an equimolar amount of catalyst, HCl showed 15wt.% higher FAME yield than H2SO4. This in situ transesterification using HCl as a catalyst would help to realize a feasible way to produce biodiesel from wet microalgae.

References

Mar 14, 2007·Biotechnology Advances·Yusuf Chisti
Jul 2, 2010·Bioresource Technology·Prafulla D PatilNagamany Nirmalakhandan
Jul 27, 2010·Bioresource Technology·Ronald HalimPaul A Webley
Oct 2, 2013·Bioresource Technology·Kenji TakisawaYutaka Kitamura

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

Oct 21, 2016·Frontiers in Microbiology·Katrin OchsenreitherChristoph Syldatk
Nov 23, 2018·Bioresource Technology·Eko K SitepuWei Zhang

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Biofuels (ASM)

Biofuels are produced through contemporary processes from biomass rather than geological processes involved in fossil fuel formation. Examples include biodiesel, green diesel, biogas, etc. Discover the latest research on biofuels in this feed.