Bio-diesel production from airborne algae

Abstract

Airborne algae are spread in the environment by various local air movements. Some airborne algal species are exceptionally tolerant and adaptive to variable climatic conditions and may also be dispersed over long distances. Such species are more likely to be better sustained in open culture systems. To test this hypothesis, this study collected airborne algal samples throughout the year (2014–2015) monthly from a campus setting in Odisha, India, and then cultured, transesterified and characterized them. The post-monsoon season (i.e., the months of October, followed by November, September, December, and August) was the most favorable climate for the occurrence of airborne algal species from the Chlorophyta domain and was having a higher growth rate. Accumulation of higher iron content within the algal cell was detected by atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS) compared to other trace metals. Samples from October were found to contain higher lipid content (~30%) among all collected samples. GC–MS detected the higher oleic acid (C18:1) and palmitic acid (C16:0) in fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) content. Similarly, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) of methanol layer data reveals the presence of maltotriose, arabinose, cellobiose, glucose, xylose, inulin, and stachyose.

Keywords

• Airborne
• Algae
• Bio-diesel
• Lipid