Fuel 230 (2018) 155–162

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Fuel
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/fuel

Full Length Article

Evaluation of fatty acids production by Chlorella minutissima in batch T

bubble-column photobioreactor
⁎
Félix M. Pereiraa,b, , Carla C.A. Louresb,c, Mateus S. Amarala, Fabrício M. Gomesa,b,
Guilherme A. Pedroa, Marcela A.G. Machadob, Cristiano E.R. Reisa, Messias B. Silvaa,b
a
Engineering School of Lorena, University of São Paulo, Estrada Municipal do Campinho s/n, 12602-810 Lorena, São Paulo, Brazil
b
Faculty of Engineering of Guaratinguetá, São Paulo State University, Avenida Doutor Ariberto Pereira da Cunha 333, Bairro Alto da Colina, 12516-410 Guaratinguetá,
São Paulo, Brazil
c
Federal Center of Technological Education of Rio de Janeiro, R. do Areal 522, Parque Perequê, 23953-030 Angra dos Reis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The environmental problems caused by emissions of greenhouse gases from fossil fuels are increasing the de-
Taguchi mand for renewable and sustainable energy sources. Biofuels from microalgae, also known as third generation
Microalgae biofuels, promises to be an alternative to substitute the fossil fuels. One of steps to improve the microalgae
Chlorella minutissima biofuel production is the optimization of the microalgae production rate. This work applied the Taguchi’s
Photobioreactor
method to improve the culture conditions into bubble column photobioreactors in order to maximize biomass
Biofuel
and fatty acids productivity by marine microalgae Chlorella minutissima. The independent variables taken into
account were carbon dioxide percentage, nitrate concentration, phosphate concentration, supplementation of
metals and vitamins, temperature and salinity. The microalgae kinetic growth tacked into account the logistic
model. The fatty acids productivity for the best condition was compared with other microalgae cultures in the
batch bubble-column photobioreactors presented in literature and the results showed the highest productivity of
palmitic acid and a good productivity of stearic acid, important fatty acids to biodiesel formulations. Thus, the
methodology and the results presented in this study may be useful for further studies aiming the economic
feasibility of microalgae biofuels production.

1. Introduction
The growing demand for energy and the fact that a large share of
this energy comes from non-renewable sources, such as fossil fuels, has
encouraged the improvement of technologies related to the production
of energy from renewable sources such as solar energy, photovoltaics,
hydropower, geothermal, wind power, and renewable fuels such as
biofuels [1–3]. A promising alternative to replace fossil fuels are bio-
fuels produced from microalgae biomass, which comprise the third
generation of raw materials used to produce biodiesel [4,5].
Microalgae are photosynthetic organisms found in marine and
freshwater with the following features: significant accumulation of li-
pids; high growth rate; high photosynthetic efficiency; and efficient
carbon dioxide mitigation [6]. The main components on lipid fraction
of microalgae are triglycerides and free fatty acids that can be con-
verted into biodiesel [7]. Among the studies that aim to increase fea-
sibility of microalgae-based biofuels, it is noteworthy to acknowledge
that engineering aspects, such as growth rate optimization and process
scale up play key roles in determining the overall viability and long
term production of said fuels [8].
Microalgae culture conditions directly influence the rate of biomass
production, therefore, batch studies in bubble column reactors can
provide a reliable analysis about the effects of the culture conditions on
growth kinetics, since these reactors have a great potential to the large-
scale cultivation, sterilization easiness and reduced photoinhibition [9].
Although microalgae present a high potential for the biofuels produc-
tion, there is a need to carry out several studies in order to improve the
economic viability of the production process. These studies implies,
among other aspects: optimization of microalgae and lipid production;
the improvement of the technologies aiming the adequate processing of
the produced biomass; the improvement of separation and cultivation
processes; and the scale up effects [7]. Commonly, these studies takes
into account the experimental data acquisition and its subsequent
mathematical treatment, using mathematical and computational tools

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⁎
Corresponding author at: Engineering School of Lorena, University of São Paulo, Estrada Municipal do Campinho s/n, 12602-810 Lorena, São Paulo, Brazil.
E-mail addresses: felixmpereira@usp.br (F.M. Pereira), carla.loures@cefet-rj.br (C.C.A. Loures), mateusamaral@dequi.eel.usp.br (M.S. Amaral),
marcela@feg.unesp.br (M.A.G. Machado), cristianoreis@usp.br (C.E.R. Reis), messias@dequi.eel.usp.br (M.B. Silva).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2018.04.170
Received 8 December 2017; Received in revised form 24 April 2018; Accepted 28 April 2018
Available online 15 May 2018
0016-2361/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.