Production of biodiesel from microalgae | |
| Author | Nguyen Thi Thu |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.EV-10-23 |
| Subject(s) | Biodiesel fuels Biomass energy Microalgae |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering in Environmental Engineering and Management |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | Energy has become a vital source of our everyday activities, and the main energy source used nowadays is based on fossil fuels, which release commonly green house gases(GHG). However, fossil fuels are not sustainable energy source, thus renewable energy source such as microalgae is considered to be the best alternative. This study aims to develop a most suitable process for crude oil production from Synechocystic aquatilis TISTR8612. S. aquatilis was cultivated in a batch air-lift photobioreactor with optimum conditions defined by the previous study, Puttimon, 2009. When S. aquatilis achieved stationary phase, biomass was taken out to extract oil with three methods of cell disruption including grind, sonication and osmotic shock with a 10% NaCl solution. After that, crude oil was extracted with seven different solvents which are pure solvents. As the result, the sonication and Chloroform: Methanol (1:1, by vol) as the first solvent and Chloroform as the second solvent were chosen the best cell disruption method and the best solvent system in oil extraction process. Continuous air-lift photobioreactor with various CO₂ aerations (5%, 8%, and 10%) were researched by other research. In this continuous system, yield of crude oil at 8% CO₂ aeration was the highest (18.58%) in three CO₂ aerations and the fatty acid compositions with both 5% and 8% CO₂ aeration showed qualitatively good quality biodiesel. To comparison oil yield from algae of laboratory and real pond, algae were taken from AIT aquaculture pond. As the result, the yield of crude oil from aquaculture pond is higher than algae laboratory, but it is difficult to apply oil production because of the low biomass concentration. Summarily, S. aquatilis is suitable to produce biodiesel in continuous photobioreactor with optimum cultivation conditions. |
| Year | 2010 |
| 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 | Environmental Engineering (EV) |
| Chairperson(s) | Annachhatre, Ajit P.; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Nguyen, Thi Kim Oanh;Preeda Pakpian; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Belgian Technical Cooperation (BTC), Vietnam; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2010 |