Utilization of microalgae in the production of biofuels

Micro-algae, like other organic plants, are able to produce fat stored as Triglycerides (TAGs). Over the past decades, with the emergence of environmental problems and the shortage of energy sources of fossil fuels, much emphasis has been put on the production of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) from microalgae, which can be used as an alternative to fossil fuels. Using micro algae as fuel will reduce about 78% of greenhouse gases, and in particular carbon dioxide. In this paper, the statistical analysis of the nutritional composition of 16 species of microalgae which stokes were available and also statistical comparison of commercial cultivation environments obtained the best species and environment with the aim of producing more oil in the microalgae cell structure. Then, in 5 meter tanks, standard mass cultivation were exposed to the superior species, and with the flocculation process, 4 grams of microalgae biomass were collected for each liter with moisture of 65%. During the Expeller process, their oils were extracted and fuel analyzes were performed based on diesel fuel standards, which showed that this biofuel with no manipulation of the engines would have fuel-efficient. The results demonstrated that Isochrysis galbana with 23% fat in dry weight of microalgae had the highest potential for oil production compared to other species (P> 0.05). For these species in comparison with others, the best fat-enrichment is Waln which had the highest efficiency of 25.95% fat in dry weight. The fuel features of this oil include of a minimum ignition point of 60 °C, which is very close to petrodiesel (54 °C). It has a density of about 710 kg/m3 at 15.6 °C, compared with 840 kg/m3 petrodiesel showed a significant difference. The Cetane number is close to 40, which is small in comparison with the minimum standard for petrodiesel (50), which these problems will resolve by more accurately purifying the oil.

Keywords:

Bio diesel , Microalgae , Green fuel , Fuel characteristics