Parametric study on heterotrophic cultivation of Chlorella vulgaris Beijerinck for biodiesel production

Date

6-2015

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering

College

College of Engineering and Agro-Industrial Technology (CEAT)

Adviser/Committee Chair

Rex B. Demafelis

Restrictions

Restricted: Not available to the general public. Access is available only after consultation with author/thesis adviser and only to those bound by the confidentiality agreement.

Abstract

The effects of different growth parameters (carbon source, carbon source concentration and urea concentration) of algal cultivation on biomass yield and oil composition of Chlorella vulgaris Beijerinck grown under heterotrophic conditions were investigated. Among the single factor effects, only the carbon source was found to be insignificant. However, it was observed that although glucose and glycerol can be used as organic carbon nutrients for cultivation, the biomass concentration did not further increase on increased amounts of glucose, implying that high concentrations of glucose can limit the growth of the microalgae. On the other hand, the maximum biomass concentration was obtained at high concentrations of glycerol and urea with a final concentration of 1.19 g/L after a 5-day cultivation period. Analysis of oil extracted from the microalgae grown on the fertilizer medium containing 7 g/L glycerol and 0.04 g/L urea showed that it contains 7.04 % monoacylglycerol (MAG), 4.10 % diacylglycerol (DAG), 61.72 % free fatty acid (FFA) and 27.1 % triacylglycerol (TAG). This high FFA content can be attributed to the degradation of oil or limitations on analysis, particularly on thin layer chromatography and chromatogram analysis. Because of its high FFA content, it is not fit to be used for biodiesel production unless pretreatment procedures will be done to decrease the amount of FFA that affects the purity of biodiesel that will be produced.

Language

English

Location

UPLB Main Library Special Collections Section (USCS)

Call Number

Thesis

Document Type

Thesis

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