Two-step in situ biodiesel production from microalgae with high free fatty acid content

Abstract

The yield of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) from microalgae biomass is generally low via traditional extraction-conversion route due to the deficient solvent extraction. In this study a two-step in situ process was investigated to obtain a high FAME yield from microalgae biomass that had high free fatty acids (FFA) content. This was accomplished with a pre-esterification process using heterogeneous catalyst to reduce FFA content prior to the base-catalyzed transesterification. The two-step in situ process resulted in a total FAME recovery up to 94.87±0.86%, which was much higher than that obtained by a one-step acid or base catalytic in situ process. The heterogeneous catalyst, Amberlyst-15, could be used for 8 cycles without significant loss in activity. This process have the potential to reduce the production cost of microalgae-derived FAME and be more environmental compatible due to the higher FAME yield with reduced catalyst consumption.