An integrated approach for the extraction of lipids from marine macroalgae consortium using RSM optimization and thermo-kinetic analysis

Abstract

This work presents an integrated approach for the extraction of lipids from marine macroalgae using RSM optimization and thermo-kinetic analysis. The lipids were extracted from marine macroalgal biomass using a Soxhlet extractor. The Soxhlet extraction parameters, including temperature (60–80 °C), solvent-to-algae ratio (3:1–7:1), algal particle size (0.05–0.25 mm), and extraction time (60–180 min), were optimized using RSM to achieve the maximum possible lipid extraction yield from marine macroalgae. The highest lipid extraction yield of 12.76% was obtained using the optimized conditions, which included an extraction temperature of 72 °C, a solvent-to-algae ratio of 5:1, an algal particle size of 0.16 mm, and an extraction time of 134 min. The kinetic analysis revealed an activation energy of 52.79 kJ mol−1 for the Soxhlet extraction process. The thermodynamic analysis of the Soxhlet extraction process demonstrated the following results: ΔH = 49.98 kJ mol−1, ΔS = −128.24 J K−1 mol−1, and ΔG = 93.98 kJ mol−1. The GC-MS analysis confirmed that the extracted algal lipids exhibited a composition of 14.20% palmitic acid, 4.89% stearic acid, and 76.97% oleic acid. The physiochemical analysis ensured that the extracted algal lipids possess excellent qualities, making them desirable for sustainable biofuel production.