The effect of light intensity on lipid production in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii to produce biofuels

Document Type : Research Paper

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Abstract

Global warming due to the excessive use of fossil fuels, environmental pollution, and rising greenhouse gases has led researchers to develop renewable energy sources such as the sun, wind, water, and biofuels. Microalgae, which are high in fatty acids, are suitable candidates for biofuel production.This study was designed to investigate the effect of different light intensities on the growth and accumulation of lipid in freshwater microalgae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. For this purpose, microalgae were cultured at five light intensities of 50, 100, 200, 300, and 400 µmol m-2 s-1 for 20 days. The highest lipid content was (45.72±1.06%), and the lipid yield was (105.21±1.63 mg L−1 d−1), according to the growth curves in microalgae exposed to 300 µmol m-2 s-1. The amount of saturated fatty acids increased significantly with increasing light intensity, while monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids decreased. Among the fatty acids, methyl ester, palmitic acid, stearic acid, and alpha-linolenic acid showed the highest values at a light intensity of 300 µmol m-2 s-1. To evaluate the quality of biofuels, parameters such as saponification rate (SV), iodine value (IV), Cetane number (CN), degree of unsaturation (DU), long chain saturated factors (LCSF), and cold flow plugging properties (CFPP) was also estimated. The findings of this study showed that light intensity could improve the fat efficiency and biofuel properties obtained from the microalgae C. reinhardtii as a raw material in biofuel production.

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Iranian Scientific Fisheries Journal
Volume 30, Issue 4
November and December 2021
Pages 149-160

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