Production of biodiesel and bioethanol using algal biomass harvested from fresh water river

In this study, an integrated biomass conversion concept of producing liquid biofuels from fresh water macroalgal biomass was investigated. The algal biomass was collected from the Song river, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India and processed under laboratory. 0.650 g dry wt m−2of algal biomass was harvested from the freshwater river. The collected algal biomass contained mainly 2 macroalgae species. Lipid extraction was done by soxhlet extraction method using chloroform: methanol (2:1) as solvent. 18.6% of lipid was obtained from macroalgae biomass. Blends of algae biodiesel with, butanol and diesel fuel (A5B25D70 and A10B30D60) were prepared by Inline blending method on a volume basis. Oil extracted algal biomass was further hydrolyzed for release of fermentable sugar. The theoretical yield of conversion of fermentable sugars to bioethanol was estimated and found to be 61.0%.