Lipid extraction from microalgae using supercritical CO2

Microalgae can accumulate up to 50% of their dry weight in lipids, which makes
them a promising new source of lipids (Santana, et al., 2012). Because of this
microalgae have been thought as a new, renewable source of lipids for biodiesel
production. These lipids are traditionally extracted using organic solvents after
thermal liquefaction or pyrolysis which have disadvantages like relatively high
use of organic solvents, toxicity, low selectivity etc. (Santana, et al., 2012). One
of the promising new ways of extraction is the use of CO2 in supercritical
conditions, which could be used to replace organic solvents for extraction. One
constrain might be that supercritical CO2 extractions yields good results only for
non-polar lipids (List, 1989), however polar lipid extraction can be improved by
adding co-solvents such as methanol, ethanol or even water (F. Sahena, 2009).