Simultaneous esterification and transesterification of microbial oil from Chlorella minutissima by acid catalysis route: A comparison between homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts

[Display omitted] •The built photo-bioreactor was found to be suitable for Chlorella minutissima cultivation.•The function desirability was used to simultaneously analyze the process variables.•Microalgal oil revealed as main fatty acids: C16:0 (57.1%) and C18:1 (26.3%).•Microbial oil can be conside...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Fuel (Guildford) 2018-01, Vol.211, p.261-268
Main Authors: Loures, Carla C.A., Amaral, Mateus S., Da Rós, Patrícia C.M., Zorn, Savienne M.F.E., de Castro, Heizir F., Silva, Messias B.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acids
Algae
Biodiesel
Biodiesel fuels
Biofuels
Biomass
Bioreactors
Bubble column tubular photo-bioreactors
Catalysis
Catalysts
Chlorella minutissima
Cultivation
Esterification
Glycerides
Heterogeneous catalyst (Nb2O5/SO4)
Low cost
Mathematical analysis
Microorganisms
Niobium oxides
Oil
Process variables
Studies
Transesterification
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Summary:[Display omitted] •The built photo-bioreactor was found to be suitable for Chlorella minutissima cultivation.•The function desirability was used to simultaneously analyze the process variables.•Microalgal oil revealed as main fatty acids: C16:0 (57.1%) and C18:1 (26.3%).•Microbial oil can be considered a good candidate for biofuel synthesis using (H2SO4) and (Nb2O5/SO4).•Higher biodiesel yield was attained by heterogeneous catalyst. Using low cost materials, tubular photo-bioreactors type bubble column were built for microalgae cultivation. Six factors/two levels Taguchi orthogonal array (L8) was adopted to identify the input variables with the greatest influence on oil accumulation by Chlorella minutissima. The function desirability was used to simultaneously analyze the process variables to attain maximum biomass concentration and lipid content. The microalgal oil was submitted to acid simultaneous esterification and transesterification reactions using homogeneous (H2SO4) and heterogeneous (Nb2O5/SO4) catalysts. Both catalysts afforded high biodiesel yield (>96%), although heterogeneous catalyst showed better yield (98%) and low residual glycerides at 4h reaction.
ISSN:0016-2361
1873-7153
DOI:10.1016/j.fuel.2017.09.073