Hydrothermal liquefaction of Cyanidioschyzon merolae and the influence of catalysts on products.

This work investigates the hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of Cyanidioschyzon merolae algal species under various reaction temperatures and catalysts. Liquefaction of microalgae was performed with 10% solid loading for 30min at temperatures of 180-300°C to study the influences of two base and two acid catalysts on HTL product fractions. Maximum biocrude oil yield of 16.

Life cycle assessment of biodiesel production from algal bio-crude oils extracted under subcritical water conditions.

A life cycle assessment study is performed for the energy requirements and greenhouse gas emissions in an algal biodiesel production system. Subcritical water (SCW) extraction was applied for extracting bio-crude oil from algae, and conventional transesterification method was used for converting the algal oil to biodiesel. 58MJ of energy is required to produce 1kg of biodiesel without any co-products management, of which 36% was spent on cultivation and 56% on lipid extraction.

In situ ethyl ester production from wet algal biomass under microwave-mediated supercritical ethanol conditions.

An in situ transesterification approach was demonstrated for converting lipid-rich wet algae (Nannochloropsis salina) into fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEE) under microwave-mediated supercritical ethanol conditions, while preserving the nutrients and other valuable components in the algae. This single-step process can simultaneously and effectively extract the lipids from wet algae and transesterify them into crude biodiesel. Experimental runs were designed to optimize the process parameters and to evaluate their effects on algal biodiesel yield.

Optimization of microwave-enhanced methanolysis of algal biomass to biodiesel under temperature controlled conditions.

The effect of a "controlled temperature" approach was investigated in the microwave-enhanced simultaneous extraction and transesterification of dry algae. Experimental runs were designed using a response surface methodology (RSM). The process parameters such as dry algae to methanol ratio, reaction time, and catalyst concentrations were optimized to evaluate their effects on the fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) yield under the "controlled temperature" conditions.

Hydrothermal liquefaction of Spirulina and Nannochloropsis salina under subcritical and supercritical water conditions.

Six hydrothermal liquefaction experiments on Nannochloropsis salina and Spirulina platensis at subcritical and supercritical water conditions (220–375 °C, 20–255 bar) were carried out to explore the feasibility of extracting lipids from wet algae, preserving nutrients in lipid-extracted algae solid residue, and recycling process water for algae cultivation. GC–MS, elemental analyzer, FT-IR, calorimeter and nutrient analysis were used to analyze bio-crude, lipid-extracted algae and water samples produced in the hydrothermal liquefaction process. The highest bio-crude yield of 46% was obtained on N.