Eventos Anais de eventos
COBEM 2023
27th International Congress of Mechanical Engineering
Fractional distillation of crude microalgae oil to produce renewable hydrocarbons.
Submission Author:
Iago Gomes Costa , PR
Co-Authors:
Iago Gomes Costa, JOSÉ VIRIATO COELHO VARGAS, Anne Defranceschi Oliveira, André Bellin Mariano, Vinicius Figueredo dos Santos, Diego de Lima Sousa, Flávio Júnior Santiago Silva, Heloísa da Silva
Presenter: Diego de Lima Sousa
doi://10.26678/ABCM.COBEM2023.COB2023-2111
Abstract
The production of hydrocarbons from microalgae has been an area of great interest, as microalgae are a promising source of renewable biomass that can be used in the production of biofuels and other chemicals. Hydrocarbons derived from microalgae can be used as fuels, including diesel and aviation kerosene. The hydrocarbons produced by microalgae are like those found in fossil fuels and can be extracted and refined to produce renewable and sustainable fuels. For the study, the microalga Tetradesmus obliquus was cultivated in compact photobioreactors (PBRs) for 15 days using pig farming medium. Hot extraction with organic solvents (hexane and ethanol) was used to extract the microalgae oil. After extraction, the solvent present in the sample was recovered for subsequent distillation of the crude oil produced. Three temperature ranges were analyzed: the first ranging up to 150 °C, the second from 150 to 250 °C, and the third from 250 to 350 °C. The first sample obtained a total of 64.45 g of distilled oil with a yield of 51.51% (relative to the initial amount of crude oil), the second sample obtained 64.60 g with a yield of 52.96%, and finally the third sample obtained 57.33 g with a yield of 46.13%. The results of fractional distillation indicated that, on average, for the first temperature range, 4.07 ± 1.5 g of distilled oil were obtained, for the second range, 8.29 ± 1.6 g were obtained, and for the third range, 49.77 ± 3.1 g were obtained. GC-MS analysis revealed an abundance of hydrocarbons (alkanes and alkenes), which can be compared to petroleum diesel. On average, for each fraction analyzed, it was possible to obtain 25.49 ± 2.8% (1), 28.27 ± 4.2% (2), and 21.91 ± 3.5% (3) of alkanes, and 8.30 ± 1.7% (1), 3.62 ± 0.2% (2), and 11.22 ± 6.7% (3) of alkenes, respectively. In summary, this study highlights the importance of producing hydrocarbons from microalgae as a sustainable and viable alternative to produce biofuels and other chemical products. Fractional distillation of hydrocarbons can be an efficient technique for obtaining these compounds, as well as for obtaining a wide variety of products.
Keywords
Hydrocarbon, microalgae, renewable fuel, Fractional Distillation
