An Analysis of Lipid Contents Produced from Three Different Microalgae Depending on the Lighting Period and Their Saccharification Conversion

Abstract

Microalgae have the advantages of being able to utilize the solar energy and culturing at a low cost. In particular, microalgae have a great potential in the production of biodiesel due to the high lipid content. Lipids produced from microalgae are converted to fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) by trans-esterification reaction and FAME is called a biodiesel in general. In addition, microalgae can also be utilized as a substrate for ethanol fermentation after saccharification reaction. In this study, three types of microalgae (Nanochloris, Dunaliella tertiolecta, Tetraselmis) were cultured and their lipid contents were compared. In addition, the effects of lighting period on the growth rate and lipid content were studied. Finally, the amounts of glucose produced from each saccharified microalgae were investigated. As a result, we demonstrated that D. tertiolecta has 43.6% higher lipid content and 22% higher glucose conversion than two others.