Quality Profile of Spirulina–platensis Oilgae Extraction for Biodiesel Production

H. I. El Shimi; N. K. Attia; A. A. Abd El Aal; S. T. El Sheltawy; G. I. El Diwani

Volume : V, Issue : III, March - 2015

Quality Profile of Spirulina–platensis Oilgae Extraction for Biodiesel Production

H. I. El Shimi, N. K. Attia, A. A. Abd El Aal, S. T. El Sheltawy, G. I. El Diwani

Abstract :

Algal biodiesel has received much attention in recent years; due to the need for energy and declining of fossil fuels. Biodiesel production from microalgae appears to be suitable biofuel; as microalgae are the fastest&ndash;growing plants on the earth, important lipids source (10&ndash;70 % by wt) and can be cultivated with the primary treated municipal wastewater in desert areas. Extraction of algal oil is costly process which determines the sustainability of microalgae&ndash;based biodiesel. This paper investigates the chemical extraction of the algal oil from Spirulina&ndash;platensis using different solvents under various conditions on bench scale. Results reported that Soxhlet extraction using methanol gave maximum algal oil recovery (98.5% wt.) at 1h using biomass&ndash;to&ndash;solvent ratio of 1:110 by wt. Extracted oil specifications, showed that density is 0.89 kg/L, viscosity is 58 mPa.s at 40oC while acid number is 37.4 mg KOH/g oil. The dominant saturated fatty acid in Spirulina&ndash;platensis is palmitic acid (48.35%) which makes it a promising feedstock for biodiesel production. Extracted biomass characterization and uses are involved.