Abstract
We compare two different techniques for the extraction of biodiesel from macroalgae: the thermochemical liquefaction and the extraction using supercritical carbon dioxide (sc-CO2). The first allows to use wet material, while sc-CO2 requires dry material and uses moderate temperature and pressure so that it can be useful for the extraction of thermolabile compounds which may decompose at the temperature at which thermal methos are carried out. In both cases the extracted oil was characterized quantitatively and qualitatively. The novelty of the work is that in the literature the use of macroalgae for the production of biodiesel has not so far been described, while they are used mainly as food or other purposes.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anastas PT, Webster LC, Williamson TC (1996) Environmentally benign production of commodity chemicals through biotechnology. Recent progress and future potential. In: Green Chemistry, ACS Symposium Series vol 626, pp 198–211
Aresta M, Dibenedetto A, Tommasi I, Cecere E, Narracci M, Petrocelli A, Perrone C (2003) The use of marine biomass as renewable energy source for reducing CO2 emissions. In: Gale J, Kaya Y (eds), Greenhouse gas control technologies, vol. 11. Elsevier Science, The Netherlands, pp 1497–1502
Bender M (1999) Economic feasibility review for community-scale farmer cooperatives for biodiesel. Bioresour Technol 70:81–87
Carreau JP, Dubacq JP (1978) Adaptation of macro-scale method to the micro-scale for fatty acid methyl transesterification of biological lipid extracts. J Chromatogr 151:384–390
Hoek van den C, Mann DG, Jahns HM (1995) Algae: an introduction to phycology. Cambridge University Press, 623 pp
Kumar JV, Pratt BC (1996) Determination of calorific values of some renewable biofuels. Thermochim Acta 279:111
Minowa T, Yokoyama S, Kishimoto M, Okakura T (1995) Oil production from algal cells of Dunaliella tertiolecta by direct thermochemical liquefaction. Fuel 74(12):1735–1738
Renaud SM, Thind L-V, Parry DL (1999) The gross chemical composition and fatty acid composition of 18 species of tropical Australian microalgae for possible use in mariculture. Aquaculture 170:147–159
Sheehan J, Dunabay T, Benemann J, Roessler P (1998) A look back at the U.S. Department of Energy Acquatyic species program: biodiesel from algae NREL, 326 pp
Wahbeh MI (1997) Amino acid and fatty acid profiles of four species of macroalgae from Aqaba and their suitability for use in fish diets. Aquaculture 159:101–109
Acknowledgments
The authors thank MIUR-FIRB RBAU017 RWX for financial support
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Aresta, M., Dibenedetto, A., Carone, M. et al. Production of biodiesel from macroalgae by supercritical CO2 extraction and thermochemical liquefaction. Environ Chem Lett 3, 136–139 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-005-0020-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-005-0020-3