Biodiesel Production from Wet Microalgae Biomass through Direct Transesterification by Conventional and Microwave Radiation Method

The present work investigates the effect of methanolic HCl on fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) yield during in-situ (direct) transesterification of highly wet microalgae Neochloris oleoabundans biomass. The direct transesterification was conducted in tightly sealed glass tube by mixing methanolic HCl, solvent and wet algal biomass and maximum FAME yield (90%) was obtained at 90C. The effect of different reaction parameters were analyzed and optimized such as methanolic HCl %, solvent amount, temperature and time for different ranges. The moisture content above 20% significantly decreases the biodiesel yield. However with increasing the amount of methanolic HCl in wet algae, more FAME was recovered. Conventional direct transesterification method was compared with microwave assisted transesterification and it was found that biodiesel yield was enhanced to 90% with microwave method. So, microwave assisted transesterification is one of the best technique to produce biodiesel. Finally, the FAME was quantified by GCMS and it was found that Neochloris oleoabundans is a potential feedstock for production of biodiesel through direct transesterification having all the major fatty acid components.