Different Cell Disruption and Lipid Extraction Methods from Microalgae for Biodiesel Production

Abstract

The global energy demand is increasing at an exponential rate, and available petroleum sources are rapidly decreasing. In this context, microalgae regained attention for biodiesel production due to its high growth rate and high lipid content. One of the major obstacles for large-scale production of biodiesel from microalgae is extracting intracellular lipids which are present inside the cell wall and membrane. Therefore, there is a substantial necessity to develop a cost-effective, safe, environment-friendly, and efficient extraction method of microalgae lipids. In downstream processing, algal cell disruption and lipid extraction techniques are important for biodiesel production due to high energy consumption and high costs involved. Several techniques for lipids extraction from microalgae have been reported by various researchers. This chapter provides an overview on latest advancements that have been made on the different cell disruption methods including mechanical, chemical, and biological cell disruption methods and different lipid extraction methods including conventional extraction lipid methods, green solvent-based extraction methods, and solvent-free extraction methods.