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Search for oil containing algae & seaweeds
Bio-diesel
Algae/seaweed present an exciting possibility as a feedstock for biodiesel.
� The strains of Algae most favoured by the NREL researchers were Chlorophyceae (green algae). Green algae tend to produce starch, rather than lipids. Have very high growth rates at 30oC and high light in a water solution of type I at 55 mmho/cm.
� The other favoured algae (by NREL researchers) is Bacilliarophy (diatom algae). However, the diatom alga needs silicon in the water to grow, whereas green algae require nitrogen to grow. Under nutrient deficiency the algae produced more oils per weight of algae. However the algae growths also were significantly less. While certain green algae strains are very tolerant to temperature fluctuations, diatoms have a fairly narrow temperature range.
in-depth research on this topic and in the end has said that there is no one strain or species of algae that can be said to be the best in terms of oil yield for bio diesel. However they did conclude that the diatoms and secondly green algae were the most promising.
All algae comprise in varying proportions: Proteins, Carbohydrates, Fats and Nucleic Acids. While the percentages vary with the type of algae, there are algae types that are comprised up to 40% of their overall mass by fatty acids.
(Lipids) It is this fatty acid (oil) that can be extracted and converted into bio diesel.
Source: Becker, (1994)
|
Name |
Strain Protein |
Carbohydrates |
Lipids/oil |
Nucleic acid |
|
Scenedesmus obliquus |
50-60 |
10-17 |
12-14 |
3-6 |
|
Scenedesmus quadricauda |
47 |
- |
1.9 |
- |
|
Scenedesmus dimorphus |
8-18 |
21-52 |
16-40 |
- |
|
Chlamydomonas rheinhardii |
48 |
17 |
21 |
1 |
|
Chlorella vulgaris |
51-58 |
12-17 |
14-22 |
4-5 |
|
Chlorella pyrenoidosa |
57 |
26 |
2 |
- |
|
Spirogyra sp |
6-20 |
33-64 |
11-21 |
- |
|
Dunaliella bioculata |
49 |
4 |
8 |
- |
|
Dunaliella salina |
57 |
32 |
6 |
- |
|
Euglena gracilis |
39-61 |
14-18 |
14-20 |
1-2 |
|
Prymnesium parvum |
28-45 |
25-33 |
22-38 |
1-2 |
|
Tetraselmis maculata |
52 |
15 |
3 |
- |
|
Porphyridium cruentum |
28-39 |
40-57 |
9-4 |
- |
|
Spirulina platensis |
46-63 |
8-14 |
4-9 |
2.5 |
|
Spirulina maxima |
60-71 |
13-16 |
6-7 |
3-4.5 |
|
Synechoccus sp |
63 |
15 |
11 |
5 |
|
Anabaena cylindrica |
43-56 |
35-30 |
4-2 |
- |
|
Chrondrus crispus |
11-18 |
55-66 |
1.5-4 |
- |
|
Palmaria palmate |
12-21 |
46-50 |
0.9-3.5 |
- |
The content for this page have been derived from Oilgae � a web resource dedicated to providing comprehensive resources for oil and fuel production from algae. See Oilgae � Biodiesel from Algae for more and up-to-date info on this topic.
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