Extraction of microalgae

Extraction of microalgae

Extraction of microalgae derived lipids with supercritical carbon
dioxide in an industrial relevant pilot plant

Jan Lorenzen, Nadine Igl, Marlene Tippelt, Andrea Stege, Farah Qoura, Ulrich Sohling, Thomas Brück

Microalgae are capable of producing up to 70% w/w triglycerides with respect to their dry cell weight. Since microalgae utilize the greenhouse gas CO₂, they can be cultivated on marginal lands and grow up to ten times faster than terrestrial plants, the generation of algae oils is a promising option for the development of sustainable bioprocesses, that are of interest for the chemical lubricant, cosmetic and food industry. For the first time we have carried out the optimization of supercritical carbon dioxide (SCCO₂) mediated lipid extraction from biomass of the microalgae Scenedesmus obliquus and Scenedesmus obtusiusculus under industrrially relevant conditions. All experiments were carried out in an industrial pilot plant setting, according to current ATEX directives, with batch sizes up to 1.3 kg. Different combinations of pressure (7–80 MPa), temperature (20–200  °C) and CO₂ to biomass ratio (20– 200) have been tested on the dried biomass.

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