PRODUCTION OF BIODIESEL

USING ALGAE OIL

Gaurav Chaudhari(15CH007)
Prajakta Nanote(15CH035)
Guide- Prof. P S Tadkar
CONTENT

Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Application
3. Literature Survey
4. Process
5. Extraction of oil
6. Separation of oil
7. Acid value calculation
8. Transesterification Reaction
References
ABSTRACT
The current fossil fuel problem is its high demand and eventually it will
lead to depletion of fossil fuel and can have adverse effect on human life
which led to discovery of alternative energy sources. Biodiesel has gained
much attention in recent years due to its eco-friendly nature , nontoxic
characteristics and lower net carbon emission than conventional fossil
fuels. Some selective plants such as Jatropha, Pongamia and few species
of microalgae are being considered as alternative resources of fuels.
Microalgae have the ability to lessen CO2 emission and produce oil with a
high productivity, thereby having the potential for applications in
producing the biofuels. Other potential applications and products from
microalgae are also presented such as for biological sequestration of CO2,
wastewater treatment, in human health, as food additive.
This study is divided in to two parts. First part examines the principles
involved in oil extraction from microalgal cells, a crucial processing step in
the production of microalgal biodiesel. For extraction of oil from algae we
have used Soxhlet extraction method. Second part is about development
of efficient technology for production of Biodiesel from the extracted
microalgae oil by transesterification.
INTRODUCTION
 What is Biofuels?
Biofuels are liquid fuels that have been developed from other materials
such as plant and animal waste matter.

 Why Biofuels are important?

 Finite fossil fuels
 Carbon footprint
 Energy security
 Cleaner more sustainable energy
 Less emission
BIODIESEL
 Long chain of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME).
 Fuel which is produced from different feedstock like plant based oils or
animal fat or grease.
 Clean burning and renewable fuel.
 Biodiesel can be used in pure form (B100) or can be blended with petro-
diesel in the form of B2 (2% biodiesel, 98% petroleum diesel).

 Advantages of Biodiesel-
 Clean burning fuel and has no carcinogenic emissions and gases which
cause global warming.
 Feedstock is green, produced and distributed locally.
 Glycerin is byproduct.
 Has higher cetane number compared to petroleum diesel.
Resources of Biodiesel
Some important resources of biodiesel are
 Jatropha
 Waste vegetable oil
 Waste industrial greases
 Animal fats
 Microalgae
APPLICATIONS
 For road diesel
 Biodiesel train- British Train Operating Company
 Jet flights using biodiesel
 Heating fuel in domestic and commercial boilers
 Cleaning oil spills
 Biodiesel in generators
LITERATURE SURVEY
 One of the most recent break through has been biodiesel production from
microalgae.
 Microalgae are microscopic photosynthetic organisms that are found in
both marine and fresh water environments.
 Microalgae are organisms which efficiently convert solar energy into
biomass.
 Studies have shown that some species of algae can produce 60% or more of
their dry weight in the form of oil which make them best feedstock for
biodiesel.
WHY MICROALGAE?
 Biodiesel can be produced by any organic sources of oil like waste oil,
animal fat and seed oils.
 Waste oils supply is limited hence it is not a feasible feedstock
 Microalgae have high growth rate as well as population density.
 Microalgae has very simple media requirement for its growth.
 Microalgae also have high (>50%) lipid content.

Algae as feedstock has following advantages-

 Faster growth rate than plant seed feedstock
 High CO2 fixation and O2 production
 Oil yield is very high compared to plant seed feedstock
 After oil extraction the biomass can be used as feed for livestock as it is
rich in protein
 Relatively harmless to environment, if spilled
Life Cycle of Microalgae
Comparison of oil yield between different feedstock
In 2010 Liam Brennan and Philip Owende compared several crops for
production of biodiesel.

Crop OIL YEILD (L ha-1 )

Soybean 446

Jatropha 1892

Palm 5950

Castor 1413

Algae 100000
Oil content of various microalgal species
In 2010 Michael Hannon and Javier Gimpel carried out study about oil
content of selected microalgae

Microalgae Oil Content

Botryococcusbraunii 24-75
Chlorella vulgaris 25-40
Crypthecodiniumcohnii 20
Spirulina plantesis 16-37
Dunaliellaprimolecta 23
Neochlorisoleoabundans 35-54
Nannochloris sp. 20-35
SELECTION OF STAIN
It is important factor for overall success.
Ideal algae stain for biodiesel should have
 High lipid productivity
 Able to withstand wild stain in open pond system
 High CO2 sinking capacity
 Limited nutrient requirement
 Tolerant to wide range of temperatures
 Provide valuable co-products
 Fast productivity cycle
TAXONOMY OF CHLORELLA VULGARIS
Chlorella Vulgaris

Kingdom Plantae
Division Clorophyta
Class Terbouxiophyceae
Order Chlorllales
Family Oocystaceae
Genus Chlorella
Species Chlorella Vulgaris
PROCESS
Objectives
1. To isolate and culture Chlorella Vulgaris.
2. To extract the algal oil from dried biomass.
3. Transesterification of extracted algal oil to get biodiesel.
METHODOLOGY
1. Algae Culture and Harvesting
 Culture
 Algae cultivation can be done in open pond system, raceway pond and
photobioreactors.
 Open Pond system is cheaper method.

 Microalgae Dewatering
Dewatering of microalgae can be done by following process
1. Flocculation Process
2. Filtration
3. Centrifugation
2. Extraction of oil
 Dewatered biomass has to be dried and grounded to fine powder.
 It is then subjected to extraction using solvent like hexane, ethanol or
chloroform.
 For extraction Soxhlet apparatus is used.
3. Transesterification
 Algal oil is then subjected to mediated transesterification reaction using
suitable catalyst.
 Resulting products will be analyzed.

Transesterification reaction
EXTRACTION OF OIL
Method
 Oil was extracted using Soxhlet methodologies.
 Grinded biomass was placed in the Soxhlet.
 Suitable volume of the hexane solvent was placed in the round
flask and was boiled using heating mantle.
 Extraction was carried out for two different ratios of solvent to
biomass.
 Cold water is circulated through condenser.
 Visual observation was used for extraction terminal, when the
drained solvent became very clear and colorless; this indicated
that all oil in microalgae was completely extracted in the solvent.
SOXHLET EXTRACTION SETUP
SELECTION OF SOLVENT
 The conventional technology use hexane for oil extraction from oil
seed.
 Why hexane as solvent?
 It attributes a simple recovery process
 Non-polar nature
 Low latent heat of vaporization(330KJ/Kg)
SEPARATION OF OIL AND SOLVENT
 After complete oil extraction from biomass, simple distillation was
conducted for solvent recovery and oil purification.
 A conical flask containing oil and hexane mixture is place in
water bath and temperature kept constant at 65°C.
EXTRACTED OIL
ACID VALUE
 The acid value is number of milligrams of potassium hydroxide
required to neutralize the free fatty acid present in one gram of
oil.
 Oil with higher acid value is suitable for biodiesel production.

 Procedure for calculating acid value

 Weigh accurately a quantity of oil and place in conical flask and add 5 to
10 ml ethanol and heat the mixture.
 Titrate the solution with KOH until pink coloration can be observed.
 Following equation is used for calculation of acid value
𝑉𝐾𝑂𝐻 × 56.1 × 𝑁𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝐾𝑂𝐻
Acid Value =
𝑊
VKOH = Volume of KOH titrant used (ml)
W = Weight of oil being examined
CALCULATION OF ACID VALUE
 Known amount of oil and ethanol mixed together.
 Then the mixture is heated and titrated against KOH.

 Weight of oil = 0.2 g

 Ethanol used = 5 ml
 Normality of KOH = 0.1 N
 Volume of KOH consumed = 0.7 ml

0.7 × 56.1 ×0.1

Acid Value = 0.2
= 19.63
TRANSESTERIFICATION REACTION
There are two types of transesterification reaction
 Acid Catalyzed transesterification reaction
 Base Catalyzed transesterification reaction
MECHANISM OF TRANSESTERIFICATION
REACTION
REACTION PARAMETERS
Parameter Value
Temperature 60°C
Agitation speed 1250 RPM
Reaction time 4Hr
Molar ratio 1 : 12
SETUP
CONCLUSION
 Mostly oil seed are limited, therefore interest is increasing in developing
new techniques using non-food feedstock.
 Microalgae are fast growing, have high oil content and environmental
friendly.
 Algal oil yield is higher than other plant seed oil yield.
 Calculated acid value is matching with value available from literature.
REFERENCES
 Ronald Halim , Michael K. Danquah, Paul A. Webley “Extraction of oil
from microalgae for biodiesel production”, Biotechnology Advances Vol 39,
Issue 3, May–June 2012.
 Michael Hannon., Javier Gimpel., ‘Biofuels from algae: challenges and
potential’, Biofuels, Vol. 1(5): 763–784, 2010.
 Liam Brennan.,Philip Owende., ‗Biofuels from microalgae—A review of
technologies for production,processing, and extractions of biofuels and
coproducts, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol.14,pp. 557–
577, 2010.
 Chisti Y., “Biodiesel from Microalgae”, Biotechnology Advances, Vol. 25,
pp. 294-306, 2007
 F Ahmad, A Khan, A Yasar “Transesterification of oil extracted from
different species of algae for biodiesel production”, African Journal of
Environmental Science and Technology Vol. 7(6), pp. 358-364, June 2013