An organic solvents free bio-lipids extraction process using non-woven fabric from pretreated fermentation broth

• A novel bio-lipids extraction process without organic solvents associated was developed.
• Non-woven fabric was synthesized to separate bio-lipids from pretreated Rhodotorula glutinis fermentation broth.
• The non-woven fabric based bio-lipids extraction process has the potential for long terms separation.
• About 81.7% of the theoretical yield of bio-lipids was achieved under the optimized condition.
• The composition of fatty acids separated by the non-woven fabric was similar with the conventional ones.

In this study, to avoid solvent contamination and decrease the cost of bio-lipids extraction, a novel non-woven fabric (NWF) was synthesized to separate bio-lipids from pretreated Rhodotorula glutinis fermentation broth. After fermentation with the wastewater mixture, cells were concentrated by microfiltration and the concentrated cells were disrupted via high pressure homogenization. Bio-lipids was extracted and separated from cell disruption suspension via NWF. The NWF can be used to carry out 25 cycles of oil extraction, which showed it was effective and easily recyclable in bio-oil recovery. The extraction temperature was also optimized, and about 25.5 mL/L of final bio-lipids product with 81.7% of the theoretical yield was achieved at 70 °C. The fatty acid compositions extracted by NMW were similar with those obtained using the conventional organic solvent extraction methods. The results showed that the novel process provided an attractive and promising way to separate bio-lipids from microorganisms.

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