Biofuels are organic materials that are burned to produce heat or power (Tabak, J, 2009).

They
differ from fossil fuels, because they can be considered as being renewable. More particularly,
one of the two most common types of Biofuels is biodiesel, which can be used as an additive to
reduce vehicle emissions or on its own as a renewable alternative fuel for diesel engines, which
is why it can sometimes be labelled as being renewable, but not definitely (Renewable Energy
World 2017). This particular fuel is an example of modern fuel, because it is manufactured
(Tabak, J, 2009). It is made through a chemical process called transesterification, which is the
conversion of a carboxylic acid ester into another carboxylic acid ester. An ester is another name
for biodiesel. Its a chemical compound, which is derived from a carboxylic acid and an alcohol
(Libre Texts, 2014). More specifically, chemists place ester in excess alcohol, along with an acid
or a base. The excess alcohol will obviously disrupt equilibrium, which, according to Le
Chteliers Principle, will react in the way that relieves the stress brought upon by the excess
alcohol. Thus, the forward reaction will be favored (Mastering Chemistry, 2017). As for the acid
or base, their use is to allow the exchange of alkoxy groups and to sometimes act like a catalyst,
which will also encourage the forward reaction to take place. In short, during transesterification,
glycerin is separated from the oil, formed by the algae, and the process leaves behind two
products; methyl esters and glycerine (Biodiesel Basics, 2017).

Before thinking about the reaction that will take place, in order to form biodiesel, it is important
to think about the reactants. Obviously, algae will have to have grown and then been killed, in
order for the reactant, which is oil, to be extracted from it. In fact, about 50% of their weight is
oil (Science Direct, 2010). There are various types of algae that produce oil for biodiesel and
they each yield a specific oil content percentage, such as; Ankistrodesmus TR-87 that has
between 28% and 40% oil content and Botryococcus braunii with 29%-75%. There are over
another dozen micro-algal species that can be used to produce oil for biodiesel and they are all
present in Appendix A (Oilgae, 2017).

Considering the fact that micro-algae will need to be grown in large quantities and volumes, in
order to produce large amounts of biodiesel, expecting it will someday become just as important
as gasoline; certain species will be better suited for this type of growth (Science Direct, 2010).
Chlorella Vulgaris, another micro-algal species, has around 29% oil content and like others, it
has its own characteristics and parameters that optimize its oil (fatty acids) production.
Generally, it is either grown in an outdoor raceway, agitated by paddle wheel ponds or it is grown
in airlift bioreactors and then in polyethylene bags with bubbling air, under low lighting
conditions, at optimal temperature (Algae University, 2017), which overall corresponds to a
simulation of a pond and to the optimal growing conditions for micro-algae.

Chlorella Vulgaris is well suited to produce large quantities of oil, because it does not secrete any
auto-inhibitory or harmful factors at high-cell concentrations which would inhibit or retard
growth, like most micro-algae (Mandalam and Palsson, 1995). According to the Society of
Chemical Industry, an increase in concentration of phosphate, nitrate and iron correspond to an
increase in lipid growth, but this is only up to a certain point (Journal of Chemical Technology
and Biotechnology, 2011). A study run at the University of Michigan does demonstrate how to
achieve high cell densities, to maximize oil production. Considering the fact that they grew algae
for months on end, their results rather revealed that only the addition of magnesium to the
medium resulted in an increase in biomass content that can support an increase in both biomass
and chlorophyll content up to a cell density of 1 108 cells/mL (Ramkumar K. Mandalam,
1998). However, this increase is not sufficient to support balanced photoautotrophic growth. The
continuous increase in chlorophyll and biomass content in large-scale and long-term is only
possible if there is perfect light intensity and delivery as the penetration depth of light decreases,
in addition to an increase in concentration of magnesium. The two conditions have to be met,
within stable and precise photo bioreactors, for high-density cultures to grow effectively. In this
experiment, it was determined that the interaction of iron with nitrate and phosphate were
insignificant. This goes to show that not just any nutrient can be expected to increase the algaes
growth or density, when it is produced in large quantities (Ramkumar K. Mandalam, 1998). On
the other hand, the Society of Chemical Industry, that grew lower scale quantities of algae for a
culture period of 13 days found that maximum lipid content for Chlorella Vulgaris was
attainable, with 0.025g/L nitrate, 0.075g/L phosphate and 0.003g/L iron (Journal of Chemical
Technology and Biotechnology, 2011). To sum up, parameters that optimize oil production in
Chlorella Vulgaris may vary, depending on whether its growth is large or shorter scale.

Biodiesel is a clean fuel, because it is natural and it is a substitute for fossil fuel, which produces
less pollution than its alternatives (Business Dictionary, 2017). In fact, it has many
environmental advantages that other types of fuel dont have. Its capacity to keep a carbon
neutral cycle is one of them. This means that there is no net greenhouse gas emission nor is there
a resulting carbon footprint. The way this works is that the combustion of biofuel releases CO2 ,
that is absorbed by the micro-algae, that produces biomass through photosynthesis, which is used
to make the biofuel in the first place. This way, the released carbon dioxide is constantly turned
into biodiesel and this goes on as a cycle (Okamoto, K, 2003).

Biodiesel is also produced from renewable energy resources, meaning that, because it is made
from oil coming from algae, it can be produced on demand and it causes less pollution than
petroleum diesel, because it produces less soot, carbon monoxide, unburned hydrocarbons and
sulfur dioxide (Conserve Energy Future, 2017). Another advantage comes from the fact that the
biofuel refineries are cleaner for biodiesel. When oil is extracted from the ground, for example, it
has to be refined to run diesel engines. This releases benzene, butadiene and various other
chemical compounds, which are harmful for both animals and plants. On the other hand,
biodiesel refineries, which mainly use vegetable fat, release less toxic chemicals into the
environment (Conserve Energy Future, 2017).
Appendix A: The oil content percentage in different micro-algal species

Microalgal species Oil content(% dw)

Ankistrodesmus TR-87 28-40
Botryococcus braunii 29-75
Chlorella sp. 29
Chlorella 15-55
protothecoides(autotrophic/
heterothrophic)
Cyclotella DI- 35 42
Dunaliella tertiolecta 36-42
Hantzschia DI-160 66
Nannochloris 31(6-63)
Nannochloropsis 46(31-68)
Nitzschia TR-114 28-50
Phaeodactylum tricornutum 31
Scenedesmus TR-84 45
Stichococcus 33(9-59)
Tetraselmis suecica 15-32
Thalassiosira pseudonana (21-31)
Crpthecodinium cohnii 20
Neochloris oleoabundans 35-54
Schiochytrium 50-77
Source: http://www.oilgae.com/algae/oil/yield/yield.html
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