Investigation of the effect of preprocessing parameters on the efficacy of chlorophyll removal from mychonastes homospaera for biofuel production

Abstract

Microalgal lipids have become a potential candidate for biofuel production in recent years. High lipid accumulation and shorter doubling time enabling higher growth rate are foremost factors in microalgae to compete with first and second-generation biodiesel feedstocks. However, high levels of chlorophyll in feedstock limit its large-scale application. Chlorophyll makes oil more susceptible to photo-oxidation, decreases the storage stability, causes low-quality oil with a dull and dark color, and decreases the transesterification efficiency and combustion efficiency of biodiesel. This study aimed to develop a novel preprocessing method to identify the best solvent ratios, temperature, and reaction time for chlorophyll removal from the selected microalgae to synthesize high-quality biodiesel. Mychonastes homosphaera isolated from Beire Lake, Colombo, Sri Lanka with a doubling time, and the lipid accumulation of 2.89 d and 58 % (w/w) was selected for the study. The results indicated that the best solvent ratio (NaOH: ethanol), temperature, and reaction time were 7:3, 60 0C, and 90 min, respectively.