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Updated: May 13, 2026

Experimental Protocol for Biodiesel Production with Isolation of Alkenones as Coproducts from Commercial Isochrysis Algal Biomass
Published on: June 24, 2016
Evaluation of oil-producing algae as potential biodiesel feedstock
XuPing Zhou1, HongMei Ge, Ling Xia
1Key Laboratory of Algal Biology, Institute of Hydrobiology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China.
Abstract:
This study attempted to connect the dots between laboratory research and the outdoors. Chlorella sp. NJ-18 was selected among seven oil-producing algae cultivated in this study because it had the highest lipid productivity. The nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations for cultivating this Chlorella strain were optimized indoors. This strain was incubated outdoors in a 70 L photobioreactor, containing the favorable nitrogen (8.32 mM urea) and phosphorus (0.18 mM monopotassium phosphate) concentrations. Semi-continuous cultivation was performed by harvesting 30 L biomass and replacing it with fresh medium. The maximum biomass and lipid productivity acquired outdoors were 91.84 and 24.05 mg L(-1) d(-1), respectively. Furthermore, biomass productivity could be maintained at a high level throughout the cultivation process when using the semi-continuous mode, whereas it decreased dramatically in batch cultures. More than 95% of the total fatty acids obtained were C16 and C18, which are the main components for biofuel.
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