Abstract
As a potential source of biomass supplies, cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) has been studied for bioethanol production, but not for the production of biodiesel. In this study, we used cassava hydrolysate as an alternative carbon source for the growth of microalgae (Chlorella protothecoides) which accumulated oil in vivo, with high oil content up to 53% by dry mass under a 5-L scale fermentation condition. The oils were extracted and converted into biodiesel by transesterification. The biodiesel obtained consisted of mainly unsaturated fatty acids methyl ester (over 82%), cetane acid methyl ester, linoleic acid methyl ester, and oleic acid methyl ester. This work suggests the feasibility of an alternative choice for producing biodiesel from cassava by microalgae fermentation. We report herewith the optimized condition for the fermentation and for the hydrolysis of cassava as the carbon source.
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Acknowledgment
This study was funded by the NSF Guangdong joint project U0633009, NSF project 30670476 and 30970224, the National High Technology Research & Development Program of China (863 Program) 2007AA05Z400, and MOST overseas cooperation project 20070574.
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Lu, Y., Zhai, Y., Liu, M. et al. Biodiesel production from algal oil using cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) as feedstock. J Appl Phycol 22, 573–578 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-009-9496-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-009-9496-8