Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences Vol 25 No 5 (2021): 728 - 739

 

 

 

 

EXTRACTION SOLVENTS IN MICROALGAL LIPID EXTRACTION FOR BIOFUEL PRODUCTION: A REVIEW

 

(Pelarut Pengekstrakan dalam Pengekstrakan Lipid Mikroalgal untuk Penghasilan Bahan Api Bio: Satu Tinjauan)

 

Tan Yeong Hwang¹*, Chai Mee Kin¹, Wong Ling Shing²

 

¹College of Engineering,

University Tenaga Nasional, Jalan Ikram-Uniten, 43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia

²Faculty of Health and Life Science, INTI International University,

Persiaran Perdana BBN Putra Nilai, 71800 Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia

 

*Corresponding author:  yeonghwang_113@hotmail.com

 

 

Received: 28 July 2021; Accepted: 22 September 2021; Published:  25 October 2021

 

 

Abstract

Oleaginous microalgae biomass has gained noteworthy attention as feedstock for biofuel production due to its fast growth rate and capability of growing in non-arable land with high lipid content. Among biofuels, biodiesel has been a prevailing area of interest to many researchers. Prior to transformation of microalgae lipid into biodiesel, a lipid extraction step needs to be performed to disrupt the microalgal cell walls in order to extract the lipid. Hence, selecting an appropriate extraction solvent is of the utmost importance to ensure the efficient extraction of desired lipid content which can then be transformed into high quality biodiesel.  Conventional organic solvents such as chloroform, dichloromethane and methanol are usually used in lipid extraction due to its high extraction efficiency. However, toxicity and environmental issues related to these solvents are of major concerns. Hence, many recent studies have focused on the use of green solvents such as bio-based solvents, supercritical carbon dioxide and ionic liquids. This review discusses the use of conventional organic solvents and green solvents in microalgae lipid extraction. Advantages and shortcomings of these solvents are also discussed. In addition, the future perspective for extraction solvents used in lipid extraction is also discussed.

 

Keywords:  extraction solvent, microalgae lipid extraction, green solvent, biofuel

 

Abstrak

Biojisim mikroalga berminyak dinilai sebagai bahan mentah yang terkenal untuk penghasilan bahan api bio kerana kadar pertumbuhannya yang cepat dan keupayaan bertumbuh di dalam tanah yang tidak sesuai untuk pertanian dengan kandungan lipid yang tinggi. Antara bahan api bio, biodiesel telah menarik minat ramai penyelidik. Sebelum transformasi mikroalgae ke dalam biodiesel, langkah pengekstrakan lipid perlu dilakukan untuk melemahkan dinding sel mikroalga untuk mengekstrak lipid. Oleh itu, memilih pelarut pengekstrakan yang sesuai adalah sangat penting untuk pengekstrakan kandungan lipid yang dikehendaki yang boleh diubah menjadi biodiesel berkualiti tinggi. Pelarut organik konvensional seperti kloroform, diklorometana dan metanol biasanya digunakan dalam pengekstrakan lipid kerana kecekapan pengekstrakan yang tinggi. Namum, ketoksikan dan isu-isu alam sekitar pelarut-pelarut ini adalah kebimbangan utama. Oleh itu, banyak kajian baru-baru ini telah memberi tumpuan kepada penggunaan pelarut hijau seperti pelarut berasaskan bio, karbon dioksida superkritikal dan cecair ionik. Tinjauan ini membincangkan pelarut organik konvensional dan pelarut hijau yang digunakan dalam pengekstrakan lipid microalga. Kelebihan dan kelemahan pelarut-pelarut tersebut juga dibincangkan. Di samping itu, perspektif masa depan untuk pelarut-pelarut pengekstrakan yang digunakan dalam pengekstrakan lipid juga dibincangkan.

 

Kata kunci:  pelarut pengekstrakan, pengekstrakan lipid mikroalga, pelarut hijau, bahan api bio

 

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