The Study of the Lipid Extraction Process for the Production of Third-generation Biofuel from the Pre-treated Microalgae Chlorella Vulgaris Biomass

Abstract

Chlorella is a promising type of microalgae, which can be considered as a source of raw materials for obtaining valuable substances (lipids, carotenoids, chlorophyll, etc.). One of the most energy-intensive stages of production of technical lipids is the extraction stage. The low efficiency of this stage is due to the strong cell wall of microalgae, which prevents the penetration of the solvent into the cell and dissolved lipids from the cell into the volume of the mixture of solvents. In order to increase the efficiency of extraction, cell walls are destroyed, resulting in the formation of three types of cells: "destroyed", "dead but still in shape", "living cells". In the course of theoretical and experimental research the peculiarities and mechanisms of lipid extraction in the system "polar and non-polar solvent" were studied. A mathematical model of the process of lipid extraction from Chlorella microalgae is proposed.