(132a) Chitosan-Assisted Microalgae Harvesting for Efficient Fatty Acid Methyl Ester Production

Due to the depletion of fossil fuel reserves and the high energy demand, the current state of oil prices is increasing. It is not the price that is a concern; the emission of CO2 needs to be addressed, and other alternative energy sources need to be explored. In the present study, cultivation of microalgae was done in a 250L Photo Bioreactor (PBR) pilot plant equipped with CO2 injector which is considered an emerging approach for Large-scale microalgae production. This research aims to conduct the feasibility of microalgae production utilizing PBR and evaluate the efficiency of algal biomass production, optimization of the cultivation process, simulate different scenarios to assess productivity, monitor key parameters such as pH, temperature, and dissolved oxygen(DO) levels, and to harvest the cultivatedfor algal biomass. For harvesting microalgae flocculation by Chitosan was used which was suitable for large-scale microalgae harvesting. The algal lipid extraction was done to separate the oil from the biomass and Fatty acid methyl Ester (FAME) wasthen produced from the algal biomass oil using Transesterification. The remaining byproduct from lipid extraction underwent low-temperature Hydrothermalliquefaction to produce bio-crude oil. The purpose of this research was to produce renewable fuels by using microalgae, water and CO2. Creating biofuel from algae offers a pure and eco-friendly answer to environmental challenges while also enhancing the nation's energy capabilities