(587v) Investigation of Pyrolysis Characteristics of Chlorella Sp. KR-1 Using Pyrolysis-Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry

Microalgae are one of promising biomass resources with high photosynthetic yield, high lipid content, and CO₂ consumption. Also the triacylglycerol content in microalgal cells is an important factor to produce biofuels from microalgae [1]. Pyrolysis processes have been developed to recover bio-oil from various biomass resources. But the pyrolysis characteristics of microalgae is not enough to study. So, the pyrolysis characteristics of Chlorella sp. KR-1 with various lipid contents(23.3 – 45wt%) was conducted with GC/MS pyrolyzer (HP 6890). The effect of pyrolysis temperature (400-600°C) on the contents of free fatty acids and hydrocarbons were analyzed. The pyrolysis oil was affected by the lipid contents of microalgae and pyrolysis temperature. The carbohydrates were dehydrated to furanones and pyranones but lipids were converted into free fatty acids and then were decomposed into C15 and C17 compouds. Lighter compounds increased with increasing pyrolysis temperature. Pyrolysis of microalgae with high lipid contents recovers plenty of free fatty acids and pure hydrocarbons, but upgrading processes following pyrolysis such as deoxygenation are needed to produce bio-fuels from algal biomass.