Development of hydrothermal liquefaction and upgrading technologies for lipid-extracted algae conversion to liquid fuels

Production of algal biomass, chlorophyll, starch and lipids using aquaculture wastewater under axenic and non-axenic conditions

“…Some processes, such as pyrolysis, are optimized using algae with higher carbohydrate or starch contents, which were observed during the middle of the growth period. Since the primary activity of most algal cells is photosynthesis, there was little accumulation of starch and lipids in the young cells [61], indicating that harvesting should be delayed if lipids are the desired end product.…”

Process application of Subcritical Water Extraction (SWE) for algal bio-products and biofuels production

“…The elemental analyses and HHV of some selected algae and their biocrude compositions are tabulated in Table 2. Zhu et al [67] reported a high efficiency of SWE in converting lipid-extracted algae (LEA) to biofuels using a bench scale continuous SWE reactor, and the resulting bio-oil was upgraded by hydrocracking and hydrotreating. Li et al [66] carried out SWE on two algal strains, Nannochloropsis sp.…”

Lipid content in microalgae determines the quality of biocrude and Energy Return On Investment of hydrothermal liquefaction

“…Biocrude is an oily phase containing diverse hydrocarbons that can be converted into various fuels using existing facilities in petrorefinery [9,11], and it can be produced with higher liquid yield than the original lipid content of microalgae [9]. Lab-scale [12][13][14][15][16][17][18] and pilot-scale [19][20][21] HTL studies using various microalgal strains have produced biocrude yields around 30-50% (dry cell weight basis) regardless of the biochemical composition of microalgae (biomass-agnostic). Since HTL directly treats wet biomass without drying, the entire production chain of microalgal biofuels can be improved in terms of energy balance, economic viability, and environmental impact [22,23].…”