Optimization and Comparison of Three Cell Disruption Processes on Lipid Extraction from Microalgae

María Catalina Quesada-Salas (1) , Guillaume Delfau--Bonnet (1, 2) , Gaëlle Willig (1) , Nils Préat (3) , Florent Allais (1) , Irina Ioannou (1)

1 ABI - Agro-Biotechnologies Industrielles
2 Faculty of Engineering [University of Mons, Belgium]
3 UGENT - Universiteit Gent = Ghent University

This study reports on the optimization of the operating conditions using response surface methodology and a comparative study of three promising technologies of cell disruption (bead milling, microwaves and ultrasound) to increase the lipid extraction from Nannochloropsis oceanica, Nannochloropsis gaditana and Tetraselmis suecica. Central composite designs were used for the optimization of ultrasound and microwave processes. The performance of the cell disruption processes in breaking down microalgae cells is dependent on the strain of microalgae. Microwaves (91 °C for 25 min) were the most efficient for the recovery of lipids from N. oceanica, reaching a lipid content of 49.0% dry weight. For N. gaditana, ultrasound process (80% of amplitude for 30 min) was the most efficient in terms of lipid recovery (21.7% dry weight). The two aforementioned processes are ineffective in disturbing T. suecica whatever the operating conditions used. Only the bead milling process at low flow feed rate with 0.4 mm zirconia beads made it possible to extract 12.6% dry weight from T. suecica. The fatty acid profiles of N. oceanica and T. suecica are affected by the cell disruption process applied. The calculation of specific energy consumption has shown that this criterion should not be neglected. The choice of the most suitable cell disruption process can be defined according to numerous parameters such as the microalgae studied, the total lipid extracted, the fatty acids sought, or the energy consumption.

Keywords: microalgae; cell disruption processes; lipids; fatty acid profile; specific energy consumption

Domains: Engineering Sciences [physics]; Chemical and Process Engineering

María Catalina Quesada-Salas, Guillaume Delfau--Bonnet, Gaëlle Willig, Nils Préat, Florent Allais, et al.. Optimization and Comparison of Three Cell Disruption Processes on Lipid Extraction from Microalgae. Processes, 2021, 9 (2), ⟨10.3390/pr9020369⟩. ⟨hal-03143796⟩