Influence Of Different Nitrogen And Organic Carbon Sources On Microalgae Growth And Lipid Production

Abstract

Microalgae based biofuels are getting attention due to energy crisis and enviromental protection. In the present study, the Chlorella sp. was cultivated in BG-11 medium at batch mode. The effect of different nitrogen (sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate and urea) and organic carbon (glucose, glycerol and sucrose) sources were analyzed on growth and lipid accumulation on this species. The highest biomass growth and biomass productivity of chlorella sp. was found 1.29±0.04 g/l, 76.96±4.5mgl -1 d - 1 in urea. However in case of organic sources, the biomass growth and productivity was found maximum in glucose (1.43±0.075 g/l 86.04±3.2 mgl -1 d -1 ). The lipid content was examined using folch method and found better in potassium nitrate nitrogen source (11.84%) . Among organic carbon sources, the maximum lipid content (13.22% and lipid yield 189.94 mg/l were found in case of glucose, followed by glycerol and sucrose. Various properties of biodiesel obtained from chlorella sp. such as Cetane number, Saponification value, Iodine value and Degree of unsaturation were followed standerds set by the national petroleum agency (ANP255), ASTMD6751 and EN14214. Keywords: Biodiesel, Biomass growth, Chlorella sp., Lipid extraction, Transesterification