Experimental study and thermodynamic modeling for determining the effect of non-polar solvent (hexane)/polar solvent (methanol) ratio and moisture content on the lipid extraction efficiency from Chlorella vulgaris

• Lipid recovery was decreased for wet biomass when solvent composed mostly of hexane.
• Fatty acid extraction performance was decreased at the presence of water.
• Hexane/methanol (1:1 v/v) is the most efficient solvent mixture for lipid extraction.
• Extraction performance was improved by increase of the temperature.
• The UNIQUAC model can accurately estimate the fatty acid recovery.

In this research, organic solvent composed of hexane and methanol was used for lipid extraction from dry and wet biomass of Chlorella vulgaris. The results indicated that lipid and fatty acid extraction yield was decreased by increasing the moisture content of biomass. However, the maximum extraction efficiency was attained by applying equivolume mixture of hexane and methanol for both dry and wet biomass. Thermodynamic modeling was employed to estimate the effect of hexane/methanol ratio and moisture content on fatty acid extraction yield. Hansen solubility parameter was used in adjusting the interaction parameters of the model, which led to decrease the number of tuning parameters from 6 to 2. The results indicated that the model can accurately estimate the fatty acid recovery with average absolute deviation percentage (AAD%) of 13.90% and 15.00% for the two cases of using 6 and 2 adjustable parameters, respectively.

Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide