Macroalgae: Raw material for biodiesel production

The objective of this paper is to study marine macroalgae as an alternative raw material for the biodiesel production. The obtained results show that biodiesel production from oil extracted from marine algae is feasible by transesterification. Oil extraction can be carried out simultaneously with the transesterification. To investigate the optimum reaction conditions, the reaction was carried out at various methanol to oil molar ratios, catalyst concentrations and reaction temperatures. The process yields 1.6-11.5% depending on the reaction conditions. Moreover, the properties of macroalgae transesterification residue after transesterification were analyzed, concluding that it is a suitable material for fuel pellets manufacturing. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.