engleski

Third generation biodiesel – from microalgae to fuel

World’s energy demands are constantly growing and fossil fuel supplies will soon become insufficient. Solar panels and wind turbines cannot make up for all the energy needed, especially not in the transport sector. That sector is where biodiesel and biofuels in general are most valuable. Biodiesel is an alternative to fossil diesel, can be used in the same engine in a blend or by itself and has been known since the first diesel engine appeared. Chemically, it is a mixture of fatty acid methyl esters and it is most commonly produced by transesterification of oil with methanol and with basic salt as a catalyst. Depending on the type of oil used, biodiesel is often divided in three generations: first generation biodiesel is produced from fresh oil, while waste cooking oil is used for second generation biodiesel. Third generation biodiesel is made from microalgae and this paper will describe the process from growing microalgae to producing biodiesel. Microalgae samples were collected from two lakes – Jarun (Zagreb) and Bajer (Vrbovec) and one culture was cultivated from domestic waste water. They were grown in the laboratory for 40 days and then washed with distilled water and dried in a spray drier. After drying, oil was extracted from biomass in Soxhlet apparatus. Algal oil was then treated with methanol and NaOH in transesterification reaction to produce biodiesel. Extraction with deep eutectic solvent (ChCl:EG, 1:2, 5) was conducted to remove free glycerol from biodiesel. Properties of the final product were then analyzed to check whether it complies with the ISO standards for biofuels.

Microalgae, biodiesel

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