Abstract
In the current study, biodiesel production efficiency of Chlorella vulgaris, Rhizoclonium hieroglyphicum and mixed algae culture was measured by transesterification process. Growth rate of algal species was measured on the basis of increase in their dry matter in various media. Protein, carbohydrates and lipids in all selected algae were measured on dry matter basis. Extracted oil was analyzed for water contents, iodine value, saponification value, acid number and fatty acid composition. Transesterification of algal oil was performed by using sodium methoxide as a catalyst. Yield of biodiesel from extracted oil was calculated for C. vulgaris (95%), R. hieroglyphicum (91%) and mixed algae culture (92%). Produced biodiesel was analyzed for kinematic viscosity (4.9, 5.0 and 4.7 mm2/s), flash point (160, 156 and 155°C), specific gravity (0.91, 0.914 and 0.912 g/ml), cetain number (51, 49 and 47 min), iodine value (47, 53 and 49 mg/g), acid number (0.49, 0.5 and 0.46 mg.KOH/g), carbon residue (0.01, 0.02 and 0.01 mass%), sulfated ash (0.007, 0.003 and 0.004 mass%), sulphur (0.013, 0.012 and 0.01 wt%) and water contents (15, 23 and 17 mg/kg) for C. vulgaris, R. hieroglyphicum andmixed algae culture, respectively. Properties of biodiesel were compared with ASTM standards and it was found with high quality biodiesel. Key words: Biodiesel, oil extraction, algae, transesterification.
Highlights
Fuel production from biomass is getting more importance these days due to scarcity, pollutants emission and increase in cost of conventional fossil fuels (Sensoz et al, 2000)
Growth rate of all three types of algae (C. vulgaris, R. hieroglyphicum and mixed algae culture) was measured by growing these species in three types of nutrient media and it was observed that all species showed maximum growth in synthetic medium as it contained all the necessary nutrients its required amount
The growth rate of these species in wastewater and agar solution was almost similar with C. vulgaris which showed more growth in agar solution while C. vulgaris and mixed algae culture showed more growth in wastewater (Figure 2) but it was decreased with time due to deficiency of nutrients if no fresh medium was added
Summary
Fuel production from biomass is getting more importance these days due to scarcity, pollutants emission and increase in cost of conventional fossil fuels (Sensoz et al, 2000). Carbohydrates, lipids and nucleic acids in varying proportions. While the percentages vary with the type of algae and the cultivation conditions, some algae types could accumulate 40% or more of their overall mass by fatty acids (Becker, 1994). Algae have the potential to produce more oil per acre than any other feedstock being used to make biodiesel (Demirbas, 2009). Biodiesel are monoalkyl esters of long chain fatty acids which are transesterified from vegetable oil or animal fat (Ma and Hanna, 1999). The main obstacle in commercialization of biodiesel is high cost of oil feedstock. Research efforts are made to minimize oil feedstock cost (Zhang et al, 2003; Noureddini et al, 2005; Dhaermadi et al, 2006)
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