Combined Microwave And Simultaneous Distillation Extraction Process For Recovery Of Lipids From Fresh Microalgae

In the search for less environmental impacting extraction methods for obtaining high quality lipids for biofuels production, microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) technique was employed using Simultaneous Distillation and Extraction Process (SDEP) combined with p-cymene as bio-based solvent to extract lipids from fresh microalgae. In this work, the effects of microwave power and heating time on the yield and quality of extracted lipids from fresh microalgae were investigated. The optimized parameters were 10 min of extraction at 400 W, accounting for the highest yield of total lipids from Dunaliella salina (2.66 % w/w). In order to fully evaluate the effects of microwave and bio-based solvent on different cells and structures, the optimal conditions were applied to lipid extraction from other strains of microalgae. The comparison between the new extraction method and Soxhlet extraction, Bligh and Dyer and conventional SDEP methods resulted in a higher or similar extraction rate. The technique shows great potential in reducing extraction time (10 min for 93% extraction rate) when compared to Soxhlet (8 hours for 14.63% extraction rate) and conventional SDEP extraction (2 hours for 94% extraction rate).