Towards sustainable biodiesel production: Modeling, simulation, and profit optimization of microalgae oil extraction

IF 3.7 3区生物学 Q2 BIOTECHNOLOGY & APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY

Biochemical Engineering Journal Pub Date : 2025-08-14 DOI:10.1016/j.bej.2025.109902

Heloísa Roberto P. da Silva , Iago G. Costa , Anne C.D. Oliveira , Ihana A. Severo , Juan C. Nanclares , Juan C. Ordonez , José V.C. Vargas , André B. Mariano

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

The transition to renewable and sustainable energy sources requires efficient and economically viable biofuel production processes. This study investigated the extraction of lipids from the biomass of Tetradesmus obliquus microalgae cultivated in a 12 m³ compact industrial photobioreactor. Extractions were performed using pure hexane, pure ethanol, and hexane-ethanol mixtures. The highest lipid extraction was produced by a solvent mixture of 30 % ethanol and 70 % hexane, yielding 3.25 g of lipid from 50 g of dry biomass. A mechanistic model incorporating mass transfer and solvent-lipid interactions reproduced the time-resolved data, yielding mean relative errors of 12 % for mixed solvents and 18 % for single solvents. The model identified the optimal solvent composition as a mixture containing 55 % ethanol. The preliminary economic analysis showed that, with an optimal solvent composition and working volume between 2000 and 4000 mL, the process yielded approximately $0.13 per gram of lipid extracted. These results demonstrate the potential for cost-effective, microalgae-based biodiesel production. The proposed modeling framework offers a valuable tool for optimizing extraction conditions and supporting the scaling up of processes.

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迈向可持续生物柴油生产：微藻油提取的建模、模拟和利润优化

向可再生和可持续能源的过渡需要高效和经济上可行的生物燃料生产工艺。本研究研究了在12 m3紧凑型工业光生物反应器中培养的斜四角微藻生物量中脂质的提取。采用纯己烷、纯乙醇和己烷-乙醇混合物进行提取。用30 %乙醇和70 %己烷的溶剂混合物提取脂质效果最好，从50 g干生物质中提取3.25 g脂质。结合传质和溶剂-脂质相互作用的机理模型再现了时间分辨数据，混合溶剂的平均相对误差为12 %，单一溶剂的平均相对误差为18 %。该模型确定了最佳溶剂组成为含有55% %乙醇的混合物。初步的经济分析表明，在最佳溶剂组成和工作体积在2000 - 4000 mL之间时，该工艺每克提取的脂质产生约0.13美元。这些结果证明了具有成本效益的、基于微藻的生物柴油生产的潜力。所提出的建模框架为优化提取条件和支持流程的扩展提供了一个有价值的工具。

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来源期刊

Biochemical Engineering Journal 工程技术-工程：化工

CiteScore

7.10

自引率

5.10%

发文量

380

审稿时长

34 days

期刊介绍： The Biochemical Engineering Journal aims to promote progress in the crucial chemical engineering aspects of the development of biological processes associated with everything from raw materials preparation to product recovery relevant to industries as diverse as medical/healthcare, industrial biotechnology, and environmental biotechnology. The Journal welcomes full length original research papers, short communications, and review papers* in the following research fields: Biocatalysis (enzyme or microbial) and biotransformations, including immobilized biocatalyst preparation and kinetics Biosensors and Biodevices including biofabrication and novel fuel cell development Bioseparations including scale-up and protein refolding/renaturation Environmental Bioengineering including bioconversion, bioremediation, and microbial fuel cells Bioreactor Systems including characterization, optimization and scale-up Bioresources and Biorefinery Engineering including biomass conversion, biofuels, bioenergy, and optimization Industrial Biotechnology including specialty chemicals, platform chemicals and neutraceuticals Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering including bioartificial organs, cell encapsulation, and controlled release Cell Culture Engineering (plant, animal or insect cells) including viral vectors, monoclonal antibodies, recombinant proteins, vaccines, and secondary metabolites Cell Therapies and Stem Cells including pluripotent, mesenchymal and hematopoietic stem cells; immunotherapies; tissue-specific differentiation; and cryopreservation Metabolic Engineering, Systems and Synthetic Biology including OMICS, bioinformatics, in silico biology, and metabolic flux analysis Protein Engineering including enzyme engineering and directed evolution.