Microalgae culture is a potential source of biodiesel and one of the best alternatives as raw material for biodiesel production. The first objective of this work is the pilot plant design for microalgae culture of high oil content species. The design was inspired by raceway large-scale culture. Although this kind of culture is usually in outdoor ponds, the pilot plant is an indoor raceway pond,...

BACKGROUND Photoautotrophic microalgae are a promising avenue for sustained biodiesel production, but are compromised by low yields of biomass and lipids at present. We are developing a chemical approach to improve microalgal accumulation of feedstock lipids as well as high-value alpha-linolenic acid which in turn might provide a driving force for biodiesel production. RESULTS We demonstrate ...

A research on production of biodiesel from lipid of phytoplankton Chaetoceros calcitrans through ultrasonic method has been done. In this research, we carried out a series of phytoplankton cultures to determine the optimum time of growth and biodiesel synthesis process from phytoplankton lipids. Process of biodiesel synthesis consists of two steps, that is, isolation of phytoplankton lipids and...

Recently biodiesel has been receiving increasing attention as an alternative fuel due to its environmental benefits. Also, it is derived from renewable sources which are considered as strategic opportunities to favor environmental sustainability, to improve the population’s quality of life and to promote the development of more efficient and equitable economic systems. Since the petroleum crise...

Biodiesel-derived glycerol is a promising substrate for mixotrophic cultivation of oleaginous microalgae, which can also reduce the cost of microalgal biodiesel. The objective of this study is to investigate the potential of using glycerol and glucose as a complex carbon substrate to produce microalgal biomass and biochemical components, such as photosynthetic pigments, lipids, soluble carbohyd...

BACKGROUND Biodiesel is a diesel fuel alternative that has shown potential of becoming a commercially accepted part of the United States' energy infrastructure. In November 2004, the signing of the Jobs Creation Bill HR 4520 marked an important turning point for the future production of biodiesel in the United States because it offers a federal excise tax credit. By the end of 2005, industry pr...

The motivation for this research was to determine the influence of public policies on economic feasibility of producing algal biodiesel in a system that produced all its energy needs internally. To achieve this, a steady-state mass balance/unit operation system was modeled first. Open raceway technology was assumed for the production of algal feedstock, and the residual biomass after oil extrac...

The inconveniences of the conventional method for biodiesel production by alkaline catalysis suggests research towards alternative methods, with the non-catalytic transesterification using an alcohol at supercritical conditions proposed as a promising technique for biodiesel production. The so-called supercritical method (SCM) has powerful advantages over conventional techniques, such as fast r...