Highly Wet Chlorella minutissima Biomass for In Situ Biodiesel Production and Residual Biomass Rich in Labile Carbohydrates

Author(s)

Pedro, Guilherme A. ; Amaral, Mateus S. ; Pereira, Felix M. ; Flumignan, Danilo Luiz ; Da Ros, Patricia C. M. ; Reis, Cristiano E. R. ; Silva, Messias Borges

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: BioEnergy Research; v. 15, n. 1, p. 12-pg., 2021-06-11.

Abstract

This study evaluated the use of biomass of Chlorella minutissima grown in 40-L photobioreactors using a Guillard f/2 biomass at over 80% moisture content as feedstock to produce ethyl esters. The study design investigated the influence of acid catalyst type (HCl or H2SO4) and concentration (0.3 or 0.6 mol L-1), co-solvent to ethanol ratio (1:10 or 1:5 v/v), and acyl acceptor to biomass ratio (25 mL g(-1) or 50 mL g(-1)) on ester yield and conversion. An L-8 Taguchi design was used to evaluate the influence of the factors, demonstrating a range of conversion ranging from 37 to 98%. Furthermore, the effects of reaction conditions on the residual biomass were assessed by measuring the concentration of acid-labile carbohydrates, which could be utilized in integrated sugar- and lipid-based algal refineries. It was found that in situ transesterification using HCl can provide easily accessible and fermentable carbohydrates at concentrations of about 32 wt% in residual biomass. In this sense, the findings of this study demonstrate a further step in the integration of microalgae biomass in the development of liquid-fuel biorefineries. [GRAPHICS] . (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 16/10636-8 - From the cell factory to the Biodiesel-Bioethanol integrated biorefinery: a systems approach applied to complex problems in micro and macroscales
• Grantee: Roberto de Campos Giordano
• Support Opportunities: Program for Research on Bioenergy (BIOEN) - Thematic Grants