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Optimal conditions for algal oil trans-esterification to convert it

into biodiesel.

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1, 2 Ramandeep Kaur, Dr. Anjana Bhatia, Dr. Anupama Mahajan.
1,2 Research Scholar at IKG-PTU, Jalandhar, Punjab.

2 Correspondant Author, Hans Raj Mahila Maha Vidyalaya, Jalandhar, Punjab.
3 S.U.S. College of Engineering and Technology, Tangori, Mohali.

ABSTRACT

The microalgae is a potential feedstock for biodiesel production which replaces the petro-
diesel. Microalgae produce oil, proteins and polysaccharides by photosynthesis. Some

microalgal species are rich in oil as compared to plants and it converts water and CO2 to
macromolecules. Till now lot of research has been focused on vegetable oil but now efforts

are devoted to produce biodiesel from microalgae. However due to numerous technical
problems and high energy requirement for trans esterification of algal oil it becomes un-

feasible to commercialize biodiesel production. In this study, the experiment of biodiesel

production from microalgae Chlorella pyrenoidosa was performed in a batch-stirred reactor
using methanol and catalyzed by potassium hydroxide at a percentage of 1 wt% (w/w of

algal oil). The effects of volume of methanol used and – oil molar ratio, palm oil–microalgae

weight ratio, and percentage of moisture content in algal biomass on biodiesel yield were
investigated. The results showed that the best biodiesel yield was 92.34% at volume of 6ml

of methanol and was highest biodiesel production. Whereas lower percentage of moisture
i.e. 10% dry weight during trans esterification process reduced the number of unsaturated

fatty acid components in biodiesel that will lower the biodiesel quality.

INTRODUCTION

It has been reported by Energy Outlook (2013-17), the energy demand in China, United
State, Brazil, the European Union and India account for about 92% of the total world

biodiesel requirement (Cheah et al., 2015).The demand for energy is anticipated to increase
by 40% from2010 to 2040 (Raheem et al., 2018). Further, the energy demand is increasing

at a very fast rate but supply is decreasing at a rate of 5-6% annually. Ultimately, it will
result into exhaustion of petroleum energy resources very soon. Fossil fuels i.e. non-

renewable energy resources fulfil about 80% of the total energy demand globally but they

are also causing global climatic changes due to the accumulation of greenhouse gases
causing environment pollution (Chen et al., 2011). Plants and algae capture CO2 dissolved

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