Simultaneous hydrolysis-esterification of wet microalgal lipid using acid

A novel gravity sedimentation - Forward osmosis hybrid technology for microalgal dewatering

A novel gravity sedimentation - forward osmosis (G-FO) hybrid reactor was built up for separating and concentrating the biomass from the algal-rich water (microalgal dewatering). The extracellular organic matter (EOM) from Chlorella vulgaris (C. vulgaris) was divided into dissolved EOM (dEOM) and bound EOM (bEOM). Water flux, flux recovery rate and moisture content (MC) were investigated. Through sedimentation rate, zeta potential and hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity to analyze the experimental results. Scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) was used to observe the different morphologies of accumulated algae cells and EOM on the surface of the membrane. The results showed that cell + bEOM solution had the fastest sedimentation rate and fewest negative charge, so the pollutants accumulated more easily on the membrane surface, resulting in the highest flux decline. Its algal cake layer was the densest from the view of SEM. Cell + bEOM + dEOM solution had the lowest flux decline and the cake layer was the loosest. Cell + bEOM solution had the most severe irreversible fouling and the lowest flux recovery rate (FRR). The membrane fouling of cell solution was lower than that of cell + bEOM + dEOM solution, and the FRR of cell solution was almost 100%. According to the nonionic macro-porous resin fraction results of EOM, cell + bEOM + dEOM solution contained more hydrophilic components, resulting in the lowest MC. On the contrary, cell + bEOM solution showed the highest MC, which contained more hydrophobic components. Effects of bEOM and dEOM on microalgae dewatering performance of a novel gravity sedimentation - forward osmosis (G-FO) hybrid system were investigated, which provided a theoretical basis for large-scale application of FO technology for microalgae dewatering.

A novel rapid ultrasonication-microwave treatment for total lipid extraction from wet oleaginous yeast biomass for sustainable biodiesel production

Oleaginous yeasts have emerged as a sustainable source of renewable oils for liquid biofuels. However, biodiesel production from them has a few constraints with respect to their cell disruption and lipid extraction techniques. The lipid extraction from oleaginous yeasts commonly includes dewatering and drying of cell biomass, which requires energy and time. The aim of this work was to establish a process for the lipid extraction from wet biomass applying acid catalyzed hot water, as well as microwave, and rapid ultrasonication-microwave treatment together with the conventional Bligh and Dyer method. In the wake of testing all procedures, it was revealed that rapid ultrasonication-microwave treatment has great potential to give high lipid content (70.86% w/w) on the cell dry weight basis. The lipid profile after treatment showed the presence of appropriate quantities of saturated (10.39 ± 0.15%), monounsaturated (76.55 ± 0.19%) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (11.49 ± 0.23%) which further improves biodiesel quality compared to the other methods. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of using rapid ultrasonication-microwave treatment for the lipid extraction from wet oleaginous yeast biomass in the literature.

A Robust Two-Step Process for the Efficient Conversion of Acidic Soybean Oil for Biodiesel Production

Acidic oil, which is easily obtained and with lower cost, is a potential raw material for biodiesel production. Apart from containing large quantity of FFAs (free fatty acids), acidic oil usually contains some amount of inorganic acid, glycerides and some other complex components, leading to complicated effect on lipase’s catalytic performance. Exploring the efficient process of converting acidic oil for biodiesel production is of great significance to promote the use of acidic oil. A two-step conversion process for acidic soybean oil was proposed in this paper, where sulfuric acid-mediated hydrolysis was adopted first, then the hydrolyzed free fatty acid, collected from the upper oil layer was further subject to the second-step esterification catalyzed by immobilized lipase Novozym435. Through this novel process, the negative effect caused by harmful impurities and by-product glycerol on lipase was eliminated. A fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) yield of 95% could be obtained with the acid value decreased to 4 mgKOH/g from 188 mgKOH/g. There was no obvious loss in lipase’s activity and a FAME yield of 90% could be maintained with the lipase being repeatedly used for 10 batches. This process was found to have a good applicability to different acidic oils, indicating it has great prospect for converting low quality oil sources for biodiesel preparation.

Biodiesel production from wet microalgae by using graphene oxide as solid acid catalyst

In order to produce biodiesel from lipids in wet microalgae with graphene oxide (GO) as solid acid catalyst, the effects on lipids conversion efficiencies of catalyst dosage, transesterification temperature, reaction time, methanol dosage and chloroform dosage were investigated. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and elemental analysis revealed that GO contained 0.997mmol SO₃H groups per gram and high amounts of OH groups. Scanning electron microscopy showed that wet microalgae cells were adsorbed on hydrophilic GO surfaces covered with many OH groups. Lipids extracted by chloroform from microalgal cells were transformed into fatty acids methyl esters (FAMEs) through transesterification catalyzed by the acid centers (SO₃H groups) in GO catalysts. The lipids conversion efficiency into FAMEs was 95.1% in microwave-assisted transesterification reactions of 5wt.% GO catalyst at 90°C for 40min.

Evaluation of hydrolysis-esterification biodiesel production from wet microalgae

Wet microalgae hydrolysis-esterification route has the advantage to avoid the energy-intensive units (e.g. drying and lipid extraction) in the biodiesel production process. In this study, techno-economic evaluation of hydrolysis-esterification biodiesel production process was carried out and compared with conventional (usually including drying, lipid extraction, esterification and transesterification) biodiesel production process. Energy and material balance of the conventional and hydrolysis-esterification processes was evaluated by Aspen Plus. The simulation results indicated that drying (2.36MJ/L biodiesel) and triolein transesterification (1.89MJ/L biodiesel) are the dominant energy-intensive stages in the conventional route (5.42MJ/L biodiesel). By contrast, the total energy consumption of hydrolysis-esterification route can be reduced to 1.81MJ/L biodiesel, and approximately 3.61MJ can be saved to produce per liter biodiesel.

In situ transesterification of highly wet microalgae using hydrochloric acid

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.

Biodiesel from wet microalgae: extraction with hexane after the microwave-assisted transesterification of lipids

A chloroform-free novel process for the efficient production of biodiesel from wet microalgae is proposed. Crude biodiesel is produced through extraction with hexane after microwave-assisted transesterification (EHMT) of lipids in wet microalgae. Effects of different parameters, including reaction temperature, reaction time, methanol dosage, and catalyst dosage, on fatty acids methyl esters (FAMEs) yield are investigated. The yield of FAME extracted into the hexane from the wet microalgae is increased 6-fold after the transesterification of lipids. The yield of FAME obtained through EHMT of lipids in wet microalgae is comparable to that obtained through direct transesterification of dried microalgae biomass with chloroform; however, FAME content in crude biodiesel obtained through EHMT is 86.74%, while that in crude biodiesel obtained through the chloroform-based process is 75.93%. EHMT ensures that polar pigments present in microalgae are not extracted into crude biodiesel, which leads to a 50% reduction in nitrogen content in crude biodiesel.

Investigation of fatty acid accumulation in the engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae under nitrogen limited culture condition

In this study, the Saccharomyces cerevisiae wild type strain and engineered strain with an overexpressed heterologous ATP-citrate lyase (acl) were cultured in medium with different carbon and nitrogen concentrations, and their fatty acid production levels were investigated. The results showed that when the S. cerevisiae engineered strain was cultivated under nitrogen limited culture condition, the yield of mono-unsaturated fatty acids showed higher than that under non-nitrogen limited condition; with the carbon concentration increased, the accumulation become more apparent, whereas in the wild type strain, no such correlation was found. Besides, the citrate level in the S. cerevisiae under nitrogen limited condition was found to be much higher than that under non-nitrogen limited condition, which indicated a relationship between the diminution of nitrogen and accumulation of citrate in the S. cerevisiae. The accumulated citrate could be further cleaved by acl to provide substrate for fatty acid synthesis.