Direct production of biodiesel from Haematococcus pluvialis by supercritical methanol

HEGEL PABLO; MONTERO RAMIRO; DAMIANI CECILIA,; POPOVICH CECILIA; PEREDA SELVA; LEONARDI, PATRICIA

Encuentro; VIII Encuentro Latinoamericano y del Caribe de Biotecnología; 2013

Under the contemporary scenario of fossil-fuel depletion and global climatic change, the production of biodiesel from microalgae has been recognized as a promising source of renewable energy. Previous works on lipid characterization of Haematococcus pluvialis indicated the potential of this microalga as a non-conventional biodiesel feedstock. The reaction of the vegetable oils with methanol to obtain biodiesel can be carried out by in-situ transesterification of the microalgae material without prior extraction, thereby simplifying the process and reducing the production costs. In this work, a bio-oil containing different amounts of fatty esters was obtained by supercritical methanol treatment of H. pluvialis in a batch reactor. The mass ratio of methanol to algae (1.5 g/g and 2.3 g/g) and the reaction temperature (543 K, 573 K and 603 K) were analyzed as process variables. After 20 min of reaction time, fatty ester contents in the reaction products in a range of 11 wt% to 30 wt% respect to the initial biomass processed were obtained. A reaction temperature of 573°K and a mass ratio of methanol to algae of 2.3 were considered as the best condition for a catalyst-free process of biodiesel fuel production.