Extraction of lipids from wet microalga Auxenochlorella protothecoides using pulsed electric field treatment and ethanol-hexane blends

Abstract Pulsed Electric Field (PEF) treatment was used as pre-treatment on the microalgae strain Auxenochlorella protothecoides (A.p.) prior to organic solvent extraction of lipids. Experiments were performed on fresh biomass from mixotrophic or autotrophic culture which both had an evaluated lipid content of 30–35% of cell dry weight. Lipid yield was determined gravimetrically and compared to the reference lipid content assessed by bead-milling and subsequent Soxhlet extraction. The biomass was concentrated at 10% w/w solids prior to PEF-treatment and further dewatered afterwards to approximately 25% w/w before extraction. PEF-treatment with an energy input of 1.5 MJ per kilogram of dry m…

Semi-Continuous Lab-scale Plant for Hydrothermal or Organosolv Treatment of Lignocellulosic Biomass

Lignocellulosic biomass is increasingly being considered as a potential alternative source for both fuels and goods production. In order to better address the starting material to higher conversion and selectivity in the desired products, the possibility to selectively control the dissolution of the three main constituents of the matrix (hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin) should be pursued. As the three biopolymers are intimately connected one another, a suitable pretreatment step could help the effectiveness of the whole process, by producing cleavage of the biomacromolecules interconnecting bonds and by starting their depolymerization . In this frame, we developed a semi-continuous lab-…

A continuous reaction system for hydrothermal liquefaction of microalgae

THERMO-CATALYTIC PROCESSES FOR BIOFUEL PRODUCTION