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Effect of Media Composition and Culture Time on the Lipid Profile of the Green Microalga Coelastrum sp. and Its Suitability for Biofuel Production

BioEnergy Research volume 14, pages 241–253 (2021)Cite this article

Abstract

The development of biofuels as an alternative to the use of fossil fuels is growing worldwide due to environmental concerns and energy independence; thus, considerable technical progress has been achieved in biofuel production. Microalgae have been widely used for nutrient removal during wastewater treatment and produce compounds that can be used as feedstock for biofuel synthesis. In this work, the green microalga Coelastrum sp. was cultivated using industrial wastes: molasses as the carbon source and synthetic wastewater as the culture medium to determine the potential of its use for biofuel production. The use of synthetic wastewater (SWW) and molasses improved biomass production when compared with cultures carried out in a standard laboratory culture medium, such as tris-acetate-phosphate (TAP). Growth rates of 0.31 and 1.4 day−1 were attained during exponential growth rate with SWW and molasses and TAP media, respectively. The best results in biomass and lipid content, 2.29 ± 0.05 and 0.71 ± 0.03 g L−1, were obtained after 15 days of culture in SWW with molasses. The analysis of the lipid profile, produced by Coelastrum sp. cultured under these conditions, determined that the microalga can be considered as a high-quality feedstock for producing green diesel, bio-jet fuel, or biodiesel.

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Funding

The authors gratefully acknowledge the ASA-CONACYT financial support Grant No. 243145 for this project and CONACYT for María Guadalupe del Rayo Serrano-Vázquez scholarship No. 338220.

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  1. Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán AC, Calle 43 No. 130 x 32 y 34 Colonia Chuburná de Hidalgo., 97205, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico

    Ruby Alejandra Valdez-Ojeda, Maria Guadalupe del Rayo Serrano-Vázquez, Tanit Toledano-Thompson, Juan Carlos Chavarría-Hernández & Luis Felipe Barahona-Pérez

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  1. Ruby Alejandra Valdez-Ojeda
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  2. Maria Guadalupe del Rayo Serrano-Vázquez
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Correspondence to Luis Felipe Barahona-Pérez.

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Glossary

ASTM

American Society of Testing Materials

BD

Biodiesel

BJ

Bio-jet fuel

EN

European Standards

E-T

Esterification + transesterification

FAME

Fatty acid methyl ester

FFA

Free fatty acids

FT-IR

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

GD

Green diesel

H

High quality

H/C

Hydrogen to oxygen atomic ratio

HC

Hydrocarbons

HC

Hydrocracking

HEFA

Hydrotreatment process for obtaining bio-jet fuel and green diesel

HI

Hydroisomerization

M

Medium quality

NIST

National Institute of Standards and Technology

NMX

Official Mexican Norm

PQ

Potential quality as product or feedstock

TLC

Thin layer chromatography

TG

Triglycerides

SWW

Synthetic wastewater

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Valdez-Ojeda, R.A., del Rayo Serrano-Vázquez, M.G., Toledano-Thompson, T. et al. Effect of Media Composition and Culture Time on the Lipid Profile of the Green Microalga Coelastrum sp. and Its Suitability for Biofuel Production. Bioenerg. Res. 14, 241–253 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-020-10160-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-020-10160-5

Keywords

  • Synthetic wastewater
  • Molasses
  • Triacylglycerides
  • Transesterification
  • Algal metabolites