Ultrasound assisted extraction of carbohydrates from microalgae as feedstock for yeast fermentation

Lipid releasing characteristics of microalgae species through continuous ultrasonication

In this study, the lipid releasing characteristics of several microalgae species through continuous ultrasonication was examined. Two marine microalgae species, Tetraselmis suecica and Nannochloropsis sp., and one freshwater species, Chlorella sp. were ultrasonicated directly after cultivation. The cell disruption efficiency and lipids releasing pattern from microalgae cells were measured under various ultrasonication conditions. It was found that cell disruption efficiency correlates well with ultrasonication energy consumption despite the ultrasonication conditions. Lipids in Chlorella sp. that has rigid cell walls were released to the aqueous phase after cell disruption. T. suecica and Nannochloropsis sp. that have flexible cell membranes tend to coil up and retain the membrane lipids after disruption. Continuous ultrasonication can be a potential method to release the lipids in rigid walled microalgae species without expensive dewatering steps.

Simultaneously concentrating and pretreating of microalgae Chlorella spp. by three-phase partitioning

In this study, a recent simple separation technique, three-phase partitioning (TPP), was used for concentrating microalgae Chlorella spp. for the first time. More than 91.7% of the biomass precipitated in the interlayer of the system in 10 min. Temperature, initial concentration and ratio of ethanol to dipotassium hydrogen phosphate (DKP) were observed to negatively correlate with concentration factor while pH showed no significant influences. Using this method, biomass could be concentrated with much lower energy consumption and concentrated biomass could be conveniently collected. Besides, together with concentrating, TPP concentrated microalgae cells showed 26.3% increase in lipid extraction yield. Additionally, similarities in fatty acid profile indicated the avoidance of influence on lipid quality from chemicals. This study demonstrated the feasibility of TPP for microalgae biodiesel production.