Abstract
BackgroundMicroalgae have attracted major interest as a sustainable source for biodiesel production on commercial scale. This paper describes the screening of six microalgal species, Scenedesmus quadricauda, Scenedesmus acuminatus, Nannochloropsis sp., Anabaena sp., Chlorella sp. and Oscillatoria sp., isolated from fresh and marine water resources of southern Pakistan for biodiesel production and the GC-MS/MS analysis of their fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs).ResultsGrowth rate, biomass productivity and oil content of each algal species have been investigated under autotrophic condition. Biodiesel was produced from algal oil by acid catalyzed transesterification reaction and resulting fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) content was analyzed by GC/MS. Fatty acid profiling of the biodiesel, obtained from various microalgal oils showed high content of C-16:0, C-18:0, cis-Δ9C-18:1, cis-Δ11C-18:1 (except Scenedesmus quadricauda) and 10-hydroxyoctadecanoic (except Scenedesmus acuminatus). Absolute amount of C-14:0, C-16:0 and C-18:0 by a validated GC-MS/MS method were found to be 1.5-1.7, 15.0-42.5 and 4.2-18.4 mg/g, respectively, in biodiesel obtained from various microalgal oils. Biodiesel was also characterized in terms of cetane number, kinematic viscosity, density and higher heating value and compared with the standard values.ConclusionSix microalgae of local origin were screened for biodiesel production. A method for absolute quantification of three important saturated fatty acid methyl esters (C-14, C-16 and C-18) by gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS), using multiple reactions monitoring (MRM) mode, was employed for the identification and quantification of biodiesels obtained from various microalgal oils. The results suggested that locally found microalgae can be sustainably harvested for the production of biodiesel. This offers the tremendous economic opportunity for an energy-deficient nation.
Highlights
Microalgae have attracted major interest as a sustainable source for biodiesel production on commercial scale
Fresh water samples were collected from different places of Karachi, including Liyari River and Kalari Lake, whereas marine samples were collected from Hawksbay, Paradise Point, Buleji and Korangi creek
The study involved the screening of six microalgal strains, obtained from water bodies of southern Pakistan for the biodiesel production
Summary
Microalgae have attracted major interest as a sustainable source for biodiesel production on commercial scale. Oscillatoria sp., isolated from fresh and marine water resources of southern Pakistan for biodiesel production and the GC-MS/MS analysis of their fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs). Biodiesel is a mixture of fatty acid mono alkyl esters. It is produced by a transesterification reaction between natural occurring triglycerides and alcohol in the presence of a catalyst [5]. Fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) have been quantified in various biodiesels by using several methods, including GC-MS [6,7] and LCELSD [8], HPTLC-EASI-MS [9] and GC-FID [10], while Guana et al has recently reported a GC-MS/MS quantification of FAMEs in cyanobacteria [11]
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