A study of least energy pathways for microalgae based biodiesel in Thailand | |
| Author | Ratchanee Muangprasert |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.ET-13-04 |
| Subject(s) | Biodiesel fuels--Thailand Algae products--Thailand |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Energy |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | The overall objective of this study is to find the least energy consumption pathway of marine microalgae based biodiesel production. First, the suitable strain was selected by considering the ability to grow in seawater from Map Ta Phut coastal and then selected the best strain for biodiesel feedstock by considering the four criteria; (i) volumetric productivity, (ii) biomass concentration, (iii) lipid content, and (iv) quantity of saturated fatty acids (SFA) and monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) in total lipid. Dunaliella sp. has been selected as the best strain. Second, the biodiesel production system was defined based on the suggested techniques of previous studies for Dunaliella spat 70% lipid content in dry weight. The least energy consumption pathway was set from the highest net energy ratio (NER; energy produce/energy consume). The least energy consumption pathway has been indicated as; raceway pond cultivation, harvesting by Evodos centrifuge model, dewatering by belt dryer, hexane extraction, and transesterification with anaerobic digestion to provide heat for the system by microalgal residue after extraction were selected for the least energy consumption pathway. NER value of this pathway was 1.49 when considered biodiesel as the only product output but NER value was increased to 1.75 when included biogas also as the product output. However, without using heat from self generated biogas, NER value of the pathway was still higher than 1 as 1.56. Finally, environmental impacts were analyzed by LCA software, SimaPro, for production of 1 MJ biodiesel. The main impacts were marine aquatic ecotoxicity, abiotic depletion, and global warming potential, respectively. The main cause contributed to these impacts were using fertilizers in cultivation process for marine aquatic ecotoxicity, using electricity of overall system for abiotic depletion and global warming potential. |
| Year | 2013 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Energy and Climate Change (Former title: Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Change (DEECC)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Energy Technology (ET) |
| Chairperson(s) | Salam, Abdul P.; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Kumar, Sivanappan;Bohez, Erik L. J.; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Thailand (HM Queen); |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2013 |