Development of an integrated process for bio-oil production from microalgae

In this paper an integrated process for bio-oil, fine chemicals and energy production from microalgae in photobioreactors is proposed. The proposed process is aimed to: fix carbon dioxide coming from thermovalorization plants; use the industrial effluents containing organic carbon and nitrogen for the heterotrophic growth of microalgae; obtain bio-oil as raw material for biodiesel production; produce high value-added fine chemicals; increase the thermal value of the solid residue for energy production. The selected strains (Chlorella vulgaris and Nannochloropsis oculata) were used in labscale reactors in order to optimise the operating conditions for maximising oil production. © 2011, AIDIC Servizi S.r.l.