Foerster, I., Seames, W., Oleksik, J. et al. (2 more authors) (2023) A Comprehensive Study of Techniques to Optimize the Extraction of Lipids from the Autotrophic Strain of the Microalgae Chlorella vulgaris. Life, 13 (10). 1997. ISSN 2075-1729
Abstract
Microalgae represent a promising source of triglycerides and free fatty acids, synthesized in the form of lipids, for use in renewable fuels and chemicals. One challenge is the ability to efficiently recover the lipids from within the microalgae cell. Although various techniques have been studied individually, a comprehensive study of extraction techniques using consistent experimental and analytical methodology is missing. This study aims to provide this unifying comparison using the common microalgae strain Chlorella vulgaris. The factors that were surveyed and then optimized to achieve maximum extraction efficiency included the solvent type; mechanical pre-treatment using a ball mill at a variety of grinding speeds; microalgae-to-solvent ratio; extraction facilitated by microwave; extraction facilitated by sonication; extraction facilitated using increased temperature; and extraction facilitated by in situ transesterification to convert the lipids into esters prior to extraction. The optimum conditions determined during these studies were utilizing methanol as the solvent, with ball mill pretreatment at a grinding speed of 500 rpm, and a 1:9 microalgae to solvent ratio. When used in combination with microwave-assisted extraction at a temperature of 140 °C, approximately 24 wt% of the initial lipids were recovered. Recoveries of over 70 wt% were obtained without a microwave at extraction temperatures of over 200 °C.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | algae; algae oil; lipids; extraction; autotrophic algae; extraction optimization |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Chemical & Process Engineering (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number BBSRC (Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council) BB/S011439/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 21 May 2024 11:16 |
Last Modified: | 21 May 2024 11:16 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | MDPI AG |
Identification Number: | 10.3390/life13101997 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:212663 |