How do you make biodiesel from microalgae?
How do you make biodiesel from microalgae?
The algal biodiesel production processes fatty acid methyl esters (FAME). The chemical composition of biodiesel is generally produced by transesterification of algal oil in the presence of acid or alkali as a catalyst [5]. The biodiesel from algae can be derived directly from transesterification of algal biomass [9].
What is a photobioreactor used for?
Photobioreactors are specialized bioreactors for culturing phototrophic organisms. Given the correct conditions, almost any algae, cyanobacteria, seaweed, or plant cell can be grown efficiently in a photobioreactor.
Can algae be cultivated for biofuel production?
Algae can be considered as a feedstock for biofuels and other industrial coproducts in response to soaring the energy price, global warming, and associated reduction in natural sources. Microalgae-based product development is costly due to energy cost and economics associated with the downstream processes.
How much does it cost to build a photobioreactor?
Photobioreactors represent perhaps the highest cost item in algae cultivation. Photobioreactors are expensive owing to their sophistication. Currently (as of Aug 2010), Photobioreactor costs range between $70-150/ m2, though there some up and coming companies that claim to provide these at much lower capital costs.
Why microalgae is used for biodiesel production?
Microalgae are biomass feedstock that have found remarkable application in biodiesel production. They are renowned to have high lipid content, CO2 emission mitigation, rapid growth rate and non-arable land use for cultivation [1]. These qualities present microalgae as advantageous over various other feedstock.
How algae can be used for biodiesel?
Transesterification. This is a process to convert algal oil to biodiesel, which involves multiple steps of reactions between triglycerides or fatty acids and alcohol. Different alcohols such as ethanol, butanol, methanol, propanol, and amyl alcohol can be used for this reaction.
What are the types of photobioreactor?
Many different systems have been tested, but only a few approaches were able to perform at an industrial scale.
- Redesigned laboratory fermenters.
- Tubular photobioreactors.
- Christmas tree photobioreactor.
- Plate photobioreactor.
- Horizontal photobioreactor.
- Foil photobioreactor.
- Porous substrate bioreactor.
What is photobioreactor productivity?
A photobioreactor (PBR) can be defined as an enclosed, illuminated culture vessel designed to control biomass production through adjustment of the operating parameters. From: Handbook of Algal Science, Technology and Medicine, 2020.
What is the best way to grow algae for biofuel?
Algae for biofuels is typically farmed in ponds, using the sun. Hann’s method will be to “potentially grow the algae in a confined space, just using electricity from the solar panels,” the university says. A bioreactor, which is a way to grow algae, typically using light.
Which algae is best for biodiesel?
The algae used in biodiesel production are usually aquatic unicellular green algae (Chlorophyceae). This type of algae is a photosynthetic eukaryote characterized by high growth rates and high population densities.
How much does algae biofuel cost?
Algae biofuel startup Solix, for instance, can produce biofuel from algae right now, but it costs about $32.81 a gallon, said Bryan Wilson, a co-founder of the company and a professor at Colorado State University.
Are algae farms profitable?
How much profit can an algae farm make? If your 100-acre farm earned 10 cents per gallon in profit and produced 15,000 gallons per acre per year, your annual net earnings would equal $150,000.