Novel strategy for microalgae cell disruption and wet lipid extraction by employing electro-Fenton process with sacrificial steel anode.

Electro-Fenton process (EFP) was studied as a potential cell disruption technique for recovery of lipids from wet biomass of the microalga Chlorella homosphaera. A novel approach of electrochemical dissolution of a sacrificial steel anode was used to provide Fe required to initiate EFP and microalgae cell disruption. Response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to optimize the process parameters and maximize the lipid yield of EFP.

Comparative assessment of pretreatment strategies for production of microalgae-based biodiesel from locally isolated Chlorella homosphaera.

The yield and quality of lipids extracted from microalgal biomass are critical factors in the production of microalgae-based biodiesel. The green microalga Chlorella homosphaera, isolated from Beira Lake, Colombo, Sri Lanka was employed in the present study to identify the effect of chlorophyll removal and cell disruption methods on lipid extraction yield, fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) profile and quality parameters of biodiesel; including cetane number (CN), iodine value (IV), degree of unsaturation (DU) and high heating value (HHV). In the first section of this study, chlorophyll was removed from dry microalgae biomass prior to lipid extraction.