Large‐scale biodiesel production from microalga Chlorella protothecoides through heterotrophic cultivation in bioreactors
Abstract
An integrated approach of biodiesel production from heterotrophic Chlorella protothecoides focused on scaling up fermentation in bioreactors was reported in this study. Through substrate feeding and fermentation process controls, the cell density of C. protothecoides achieved 15.5 g L(-1) in 5 L, 12.8 g L(-1) in 750 L, and 14.2 g L(-1) in 11,000 L bioreactors, respectively. Resulted from heterotrophic metabolism, the lipid content reached 46.1%, 48.7%, and 44.3% of cell dry weight in samples from 5 L, 750 L, and 11,000 L bioreactors, respectively. Transesterification of the microalgal oil was catalyzed by immobilized lipase from Candidia sp. 99-125. With 75% lipase (12,000 U g(-1), based on lipid quantity) and 3:1 molar ratio of methanol to oil batch-fed at three times, 98.15% of the oil was converted to monoalkyl esters of fatty acids in 12 h. The expanded biodiesel production rates were 7.02 g L(-1), 6.12 g L(-1), and 6.24 g L(-1) in 5 L, 750 L, and 11,000 L bioreactors, respectively. The properties of biodiesel from Chlorella were comparable to conventional diesel fuel and comply with the US Standard for Biodiesel (ASTM 6751). These results suggest that it is feasible to expand heterotrophic Chlorella fermentation for biodiesel production at the industry level.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The cost of glucose is estimated to be about 80% of the total medium cost, making mixotrophic cultivation systems economically unfeasible.
“For instance, the cost of glucose has been estimated to be about 80% of the total medium cost [108], making mixotrophic cultivation systems economically unfeasible.”
From Challenges and Opportunities to Increase Economic Feasibility and Sustainability of Mixotrophic Cultivation of Green Microalgae of the Genus Chlorella (2022) · cites this paper as [108]
Cites
Ma, F., & Hanna, M. A. (1999) · Bioresource Technology · doi:10.1016/s0960-8524(99)00025-5 · Cited by 5,242 · see citing works
Biofuels (alcohols and biodiesel) applications as fuels for internal combustion engines
Ágarwal, A. K. (2006) · Progress in Energy and Combustion Science · doi:10.1016/j.pecs.2006.08.003 · Cited by 3,176 · see citing works
Biodiesel processing and production
Gerpen, J. H. V. (2005) · Fuel Processing Technology · doi:10.1016/j.fuproc.2004.11.005 · Cited by 2,178 · see citing works
Biodiesel production from waste cooking oil: 1. Process design and technological assessment
Zhang, Y. (2003) · Bioresource Technology · doi:10.1016/s0960-8524(03)00040-3 · Cited by 1,829 · see citing works
Progress and recent trends in biofuels
DEMIRBAS, A. (2006) · Progress in Energy and Combustion Science · doi:10.1016/j.pecs.2006.06.001 · Cited by 1,590 · see citing works
Biodiesel production from heterotrophic microalgal oil
Miao, X., & Wu, Q. (2006) · Bioresource Technology · doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2005.04.008 · Cited by 1,358 · see citing works
Self-citationIntegrated biodiesel production: a comparison of different homogeneous catalysts systems
Vicente, G., Martı́nez, M., & Aracil, J. (2003) · Bioresource Technology · doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2003.08.014 · Cited by 1,280 · see citing works
Microalgae: biotechnology and microbiology
(1994) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.32-0920 · Cited by 1,131 · see citing works
Xu, H., Miao, X., & Wu, Q. (2006) · Journal of Biotechnology · doi:10.1016/j.jbiotec.2006.05.002 · Cited by 1,125 · see citing works
Self-citationIncrease in Chlorella strains calorific values when grown in low nitrogen medium
Illman, A. M., Scragg, A. H., & Shales, S. W. (2000) · Enzyme and Microbial Technology · doi:10.1016/s0141-0229(00)00266-0 · Cited by 1,008 · see citing works
Optimisation of biodiesel production by sunflower oil transesterification
AntolÃn, G. (2002) · Bioresource Technology · doi:10.1016/s0960-8524(01)00200-0 · Cited by 738 · see citing works
Immobilized Pseudomonas cepacia lipase for biodiesel fuel production from soybean oil
Noureddini, H., Gao, X., & Philkana, R. S. (2004) · Bioresource Technology · doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2004.05.029 · Cited by 604 · see citing works
Miao, X., & Wu, Q. (2004) · Journal of Biotechnology · doi:10.1016/j.jbiotec.2004.01.013 · Cited by 603 · see citing works
Self-citationFast pyrolysis of microalgae to produce renewable fuels
Miao, X., Wu, Q., & Yang, C. (2004) · Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis · doi:10.1016/j.jaap.2003.11.004 · Cited by 568 · see citing works
Self-citationExperimental evaluation of the transesterification of waste palm oil into biodiesel
Al‐Widyan, M. I., & Al-Shyoukh, A. O. (2002) · Bioresource Technology · doi:10.1016/s0960-8524(02)00135-9 · Cited by 426 · see citing works
High cell density culture of microalgae in heterotrophic growth
Chen, F. (1996) · Trends in biotechnology · doi:10.1016/0167-7799(96)10060-3 · Cited by 354 · see citing works
Production of methyl ester fuel from microalgae
Nagle, N. J., & Lemke, P. (1990) · Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology · doi:10.1007/bf02920259 · Cited by 219 · see citing works
Schäfer, K. (1998) · Analytica Chimica Acta · doi:10.1016/s0003-2670(97)00587-4 · Cited by 184 · see citing works
Growth Rate of Chlorella in Flashing Light.
Phillips, J. N., & Myers, J. E. (1954) · PLANT PHYSIOLOGY · doi:10.1104/pp.29.2.152 · Cited by 164 · see citing works
Worldwide commercial development of bioenergy with a focus on energy crop-based projects
Wright, L. L. (2006) · Biomass and Bioenergy · doi:10.1016/j.biombioe.2005.08.008 · Cited by 149 · see citing works
The use of a fuel containing Chlorella vulgaris in a diesel engine
Scragg, A. H., Morrison, J., & Shales, S. W. (2003) · Enzyme and Microbial Technology · doi:10.1016/j.enzmictec.2003.01.001 · Cited by 130 · see citing works
Genetic Engineering Approaches for Enhanced Production of Biodiesel Fuel from Microalgae
Roessler, P. G., Brown, L. M., Dünahay, T. G., Heacox, D. A., Jarvis, E., Schneider, J. C., Talbot, S., & Zeiler, K. G. (1994) · ACS symposium series · doi:10.1021/bk-1994-0566.ch013 · Cited by 106 · see citing works
Prediction of gas‐liquid mass transfer coefficient in sparged stirred tank bioreactors
García‐Ochoa, F., & Gómez, E. (2005) · Biotechnology and Bioengineering · doi:10.1002/bit.20638 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
Wu, Q., & Yin, S. (1992) · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Self-citationStudies on the heterotrophic cultivation of transgenic Chlorella containing the rabbit defensin gene
Han, X., Li, Y., Sun, X., Wei, X., Sun, Y., & Wang, Y. (2005) · Process Biochemistry · doi:10.1016/j.procbio.2005.03.008 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Brennan, L., & Owende, P. (2010) · Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.rser.2009.10.009 · Cited by 4,894 · see citing works
Chen, C.-Y., Yeh, K.-L., Aisyah, R., Lee, D.-J., & Chang, J.-S. (2011) · Bioresource Technology · doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2010.06.159 · Cited by 1,860 · see citing works
Environmental Life Cycle Comparison of Algae to Other Bioenergy Feedstocks
Clarens, A. F., Resurreccion, E. P., White, M. A., & Colosi, L. M. (2010) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es902838n · Cited by 1,118 · see citing works
Liang, Y., Sarkany, N., & Cui, Y. (2009) · Biotechnology Letters · doi:10.1007/s10529-009-9975-7 · Cited by 1,059 · see citing works
Microalgae to Biofuels: ‘Promising’ Alternative and Renewable Energy, Review
Shuba, E. S., & Kifle, D. (2018) · Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.rser.2017.08.042 · Cited by 606 · see citing works
Enzymatic Biodiesel: Challenges and Opportunities
Christopher, L. P., Kumar, H., & Zambare, V. P. (2014) · Applied Energy · doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2014.01.017 · Cited by 518 · see citing works
Francisco, É. C., Neves, D. B., Jacob‐Lopes, E., & Franco, T. T. (2010) · Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology · doi:10.1002/jctb.2338 · Cited by 482 · see citing works
Conversion of Microalgae to Biofuel
Suali, E., & Sarbatly, R. (2012) · Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.rser.2012.03.047 · Cited by 456 · see citing works
Biocatalysis: Towards ever greener biodiesel production
Robles-Medina, A., González-Moreno, P. A., Esteban-Cerdán, L., & Molina-Grima, E. (2009) · Biotechnology Advances · doi:10.1016/j.biotechadv.2008.10.008 · Cited by 454 · see citing works
Bhatnagar, A., Chinnasamy, S., Singh, M., & Das, K. C. (2011) · Applied Energy · doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2010.12.064 · Cited by 451 · see citing works
Biodiesel production from algae oil high in free fatty acids by two-step catalytic conversion
Chen, L., Liu, T., Zhang, W., Chen, X., & Wang, J. (2012) · Bioresource Technology · doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2012.02.033 · Cited by 387 · see citing works
Algal Biomass Valorization for Biofuel Production and Carbon Sequestration: A Review
Sarwer, A., Hamed, S. M., Osman, A. I., Jamil, F., Al-Muhtaseb, A. H., Alhajeri, N. S., & Rooney, D. W. (2022) · Environmental Chemistry Letters · doi:10.1007/s10311-022-01458-1 · Cited by 380 · see citing works
Biorefinery as a promising approach to promote microalgae industry: an innovative framework.
Zhu, L. (2015) · Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.rser.2014.09.040 · Cited by 330 · see citing works
Kadir, W. N. A., Lam, M. K., Uemura, Y., Lim, J. W., & Lee, K. T. (2018) · Energy Conversion and Management · doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2018.06.074 · Cited by 256 · see citing works
Mixotrophic cultivation of microalgae for biodiesel production: status and prospects
Wang, J., Yang, H., & Wang, F. (2014) · Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology · doi:10.1007/s12010-014-0729-1 · Cited by 252 · see citing works
Oil accumulation via heterotrophic/mixotrophic Chlorella protothecoides
Heredia-Arroyo, T., Wei, W., & Hu, B. (2010) · Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology · doi:10.1007/s12010-010-8974-4 · Cited by 243 · see citing works
Heterotrophic/mixotrophic cultivation of oleaginous Chlorella vulgaris on industrial co-products
Mitra, D., van Leeuwen, J. (., & Lamsal, B. (2012) · Algal Research · doi:10.1016/j.algal.2012.03.002 · Cited by 239 · see citing works
Lowrey, J., Brooks, M. S., & McGinn, P. J. (2015) · Journal of Applied Phycology · doi:10.1007/s10811-014-0459-3 · Cited by 226 · see citing works
Cultivation of Microalgae for Biodiesel Production: A Review on Upstream and Downstream Processing
Tan, X. B., Lam, M. K., Uemura, Y., Lim, J. W., Wong, C. Y., & Lee, K. T. (2018) · Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering · doi:10.1016/j.cjche.2017.08.010 · Cited by 224 · see citing works
Catalytic upgrading of biorefinery oil from micro-algae
Tran, N. H., Bartlett, J. R., Kannangara, G. S. K., Milev, A. S., Volk, H., & Wilson, M. A. (2010) · Fuel · doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2009.08.015 · Cited by 202 · see citing works
A Holistic Approach to Managing Microalgae for Biofuel Applications
Show, P., Tang, M., Nagarajan, D., Ling, T., Ooi, C.-W., & Chang, J.-S. (2017) · International Journal of Molecular Sciences · doi:10.3390/ijms18010215 · Cited by 169 · see citing works
Micro‐Raman spectroscopy of algae: Composition analysis and fluorescence background behavior
Huang, Y. Y., Beal, C. M., Cai, W. W., Ruoff, R. S., & Terentjev, E. M. (2010) · Biotechnology and Bioengineering · doi:10.1002/bit.22617 · Cited by 145 · see citing works
Ruiz, J., Wijffels, R. H., Dominguez, M., & Barbosa, M. J. (2022) · Algal Research · doi:10.1016/j.algal.2022.102698 · Cited by 141 · see citing works
Shahid, M. K., Batool, A., Kashif, A., Nawaz, M. H., Aslam, M., Iqbal, N., & Choi, Y. (2021) · Journal of Environmental Management · doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113268 · Cited by 137 · see citing works
Rapid quantitation of lipid in microalgae by time-domain nuclear magnetic resonance
Gao, C., Xiong, W., Zhang, Y., Yuan, W., & Wu, Q. (2008) · Journal of Microbiological Methods · doi:10.1016/j.mimet.2008.07.019 · Cited by 94 · see citing works
Self-citationDragone, G. (2022) · Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.rser.2022.112284 · Cited by 84 · see citing works
Scale-up Problems for the Large Scale Production of Algae
da Silva, T. L., & Reis, A. (2015) · Algal Biorefinery: An Integrated Approach · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-22813-6_6 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
Advances in microalgal lipid extraction for biofuel production: a review
Harris, J., Viner, K., Champagne, P., & Jessop, P. G. (2018) · Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining · doi:10.1002/bbb.1923 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
Zhang, K., Sun, B., She, X., Zhao, F., Cao, Y., Ren, D., & Lu, J. (2014) · Annals of Microbiology · doi:10.1007/s13213-013-0766-y · Cited by 54 · see citing works
Somers, M. D., Chen, P., Clippinger, J., Cruce, J. R., Davis, R., Lammers, P. J., & Quinn, J. C. (2021) · Algal Research · doi:10.1016/j.algal.2021.102419 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
Tan, X.-B., Zhao, X.-C., Yang, L.-B., Liao, J.-Y., & Zhou, Y.-Y. (2018) · Biochemical Engineering Journal · doi:10.1016/j.bej.2018.04.005 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Growing Algae for Biodiesel on Direct Sunlight or Sugars: A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment
Orfield, N. D., Levine, R. B., Keoleian, G. A., Miller, S. A., & Savage, P. E. (2015) · ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering · doi:10.1021/sc5004117 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Surveying techno-economic indicators of microalgae biofuel technologies
Ribeiro, L. A., & Silva, P. P. D. (2013) · Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.rser.2013.03.032 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Phospholipid Metabolism in an Industry Microalga Chlorella sorokiniana: The Impact of Inoculum Sizes
Lu, S., Wang, J., Ma, Q., Yang, J., Li, X., & Yuan, Y.-J. (2013) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0070827 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Self-citationTrivedi, T., Jain, D., Mulla, N. S. S., Mamatha, S. S., Damare, S. R., Sreepada, R. A., Kumar, S., & Gupta, V. (2019) · Renewable Energy · doi:10.1016/j.renene.2019.02.065 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Bagchi, S. K., & Mallick, N. (2016) · RSC Advances · doi:10.1039/c6ra02811j · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Shrestha, N., Dandinpet, K. K., & Schneegurt, M. A. (2020) · Journal of Applied Phycology · doi:10.1007/s10811-020-02144-x · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Enzymatic processing of algae for food applications
Parsaeimehr, A., & Ozbay, G. (2024) · Biocatalysis and Agricultural Biotechnology · doi:10.1016/j.bcab.2024.103042 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
- Authors
- Li, X., Xu, H., & Wu, Q.
- Affiliations
- Tsinghua University (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Wu, Qingyu
- Venue
- Biotechnology and Bioengineering
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2007-05-11
- Volume
- 98
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 764-771
- ISSN
- 0006-3592 (ISSN-L)
- 1097-0290
- OpenAlex
- W2110555177
- Cited by
- 525
- References
- 25
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 27 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 29 · 2021: 25 · 2020: 29 · 2019: 24 · 2018: 23 · 2017: 30 · 2016: 22 · 2015: 32 · 2014: 58 · 2013: 52 · 2012: 39
- FWCI
- 15.16
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Biotechnology and Bioengineering (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › Algal biology and biofuel production
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Biodiesel Production and Applications
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Microbial Metabolic Engineering and Bioproduction
- Keywords
- biodiesel production, Chlorella protothecoides, heterotrophic cultivation, microalgae, bioreactor scale-up, microalgal lipid content, transesterification, immobilized lipase, Candida lipase, fatty acid methyl esters, biodiesel properties, cell density
- MeSH terms
- Chlorella, Gasoline, Pilot Projects, Cell Culture Techniques, Bioreactors, Cell Proliferation
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
