Development of Full-Cycle Utilization of Chlorella sorokiniana Microalgae Biomass for Environmental and Food Purposes

Natalia Politaeva, Yulia Smyatskaya, Rafat Al Afif, Christoph Pfeifer and Liliya Mukhametova
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Natalia Politaeva: Department of Institute of Civil Engineering, Peter the Great Sankt-Petersburg Polytechnic University, 194064 Saint Petersburg, Russia
Yulia Smyatskaya: Department of Institute of Civil Engineering, Peter the Great Sankt-Petersburg Polytechnic University, 194064 Saint Petersburg, Russia
Rafat Al Afif: Department of Material Sciences and Process, Institute of Chemical and Energy Engineering, Vienna Engineering, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, 1190 Vienna, Austria
Christoph Pfeifer: Department of Material Sciences and Process Engineering, Vienna Institute of Chemical and Energy Engineering, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, 1190 Vienna, Austria
Liliya Mukhametova: Department of Economics and Organization Production, Kazan State Power Engineering University, 420066 Kazan, Russia

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 10, 1-16

Abstract: The application of microalgae biomass of Chlorella sorokiniana as environmentally friendly biosorbents for removing potentially toxic elements (PTE) from water and as a source of biofuel has been thoroughly studied. In this paper, we investigate its physicochemical properties infrared spectroscopy (IR spectra), microstructure, adsorption properties); we have managed to isolate the lipid complex, which amounted to 20% of dry biomass. Studies of the lipid complex showed that 80.02% of lipids are unsaturated fatty acids (C18:1, C18:2, C18:3). Additionally, we have investigated the efficiency of using the residual biomass obtained after lipid extraction for water purification from rare-earth metals (REM) and PTE. To increase the sorption properties of residual biomass, its thermal modification was carried out and sorption materials based on heat-treated residual biomass and chitosan were created. The physicochemical and mechanical properties of the obtained sorption materials were studied. The total sorption capacity was 31.9 mg/g for REM and 349.7 mg/g for PTE. Moreover, we propose a new method for the disposal of spent sorbents as additional fuel. Spent sorbents can be considered to be biofuel in terms of energy content (20.7 MJ*kg −1 ). The results of this study provide the basis for increased use of microalgae.

Keywords: microalgae; sorbents; water purification; REM; PTE; lipids; Omega-3; biofuel (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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