The use of algae to capture CO<sub>2 </sub>from coal-fired power plants constitutes an interesting approach in the field of carbon capture and utilization, particularly because algae can intermediate the conversion of these emissions into valuable fuels and chemicals. Our previous research has shown that this approach is feasible from a technical standpoint – we have grown <i>Scenedesmus acutus</i> using flue gas at a coal-fired power plant prior to extracting and converting algae oil to hydrocarbon fuels that are fully compatible with existing infrastructure. To date, oil extraction has required the use of dry algae, which presupposes an energy intensive and costly drying step. To improve the economics of the extraction process, we have investigated the extraction of oil from wet algae using different methods, including sonication, mechanical disruption (milling), suspension in supercritical hexanes, direct transesterification, and several variants of the Bligh-Dyer method (a solvent extraction involving chloroform, methanol and water). This study has allowed us to conclude that the best of these methods in terms of oil yield are suspension in supercritical hexanes on wet and dry algae and a modified Bligh-Dyer method on dry algae, as seen in Figure 1 below. Other methods produced yields of low significance and poor reproducibility. The lipid profile and elemental analysis of the oils extracted using these methods provide valuable insights regarding the effect of the extraction method on the composition of the oil obtained.

Optimized microalgae lipid extraction for the production of fuels

251st National Meeting (2016)

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