Biodiesel Production from Iranian Native Microalgae Biomass

The production of renewable fuels and the gradual replacement of fossil fuels have been one of the main challenges of researchers in recent decades. Biodiesel is one of the fuels that is used by various sources and used in diesel engines. The production of biodiesel from third-generation sources has faced many challenges, especially in recent years. In this research, biodiesel was produced from microalgae oil in two wet and dry methods of native Dunaliella Sp. of Iran, and its properties were studied. The results showed that the wet method (direct method) has a higher yield than the dry method because the biodiesel is produced directly from moist biomass. So that the maximum extraction efficiency of the oil in the wet method was 17.4% and in the dry method it was 10.2%. The best extraction yield was achieved at 60 ◦C and 30 minutes. The duration of oil extraction in the wet method due to the removal of the drying and desalting steps is considerably shorter than in the dry method. Therefore, the wet method has a high potential for biodiesel production. The microalgae Dunaliella SP. the fatty acid profile has 14 to 20 carbons and the main portion is composed of Palmitic acid (36.62%) and Stearic acid.