One-step production of biodiesel from Nannochloropsis sp. on solid base Mg–Zr catalyst

Nannochloropsis sp., one kind of green microalgae cultivated autotrophically and axenically in laboratory, is used as raw material to produce biodiesel by one-step method in an amended reactor. The effects of several reaction parameters on transesterification over Mg–Zr solid base catalyst were investigated through both conventional method and one-step method. One-step method could give a higher yield of methyl ester than conventional two-step method, which demonstrates that the present one-step method is suitable for biodiesel production from the microalgae Nannochloropsis sp. Moreover, the present one-step method realizes the convenient in situ separation of catalyst from microalgae residue which can be easily used consequently, reducing the procedure units as well as the overall costs.