Direct transesterification of microalgae after pulsed electric field treatment
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Abstract BACKGROUND Lipid extraction is a major bottleneck for the commercialization of microalgae due to energy costs involved during solvent recycling. Direct transesterification offers the possibility to bypass the extraction step by immediately converting the lipids to fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs). In this study, the efficiency of direct transesterification after pulsed electric field (PEF) treatment was evaluated. Freshly harvested Auxenochlorella protothecoides (A. protothecoides), cultivated either autotrophically or mixotrophically, was subjected to PEF. Two treatment energies were tested, 0.25 and 1.5 MJ kgdw−1, and results were compared with those for conventional two‐step transesterification. RESULTS For autotrophically grown A. protothecoides, the percentage of the total FAMEs recovered from untreated biomass and microalgae treated with 0.25 MJ kgdw−1 was 30% for both cases, while for 1.5 MJ kgdw−1 it was 65%. A 24 h incubation step between PEF treatment and direct transesterification significantly improved the results. Untreated biomass remained stable with 30% of FAMEs, while with both treatment energies a 97% FAME recovery was achieved. However, for mixotrophic A. protothecoides the process was not as effective. Approximately 30% of FAMEs were recovered for all three conditions immediately after PEF with only a marginal increase after incubation. The reason for this different behavior of the two cultivation modes is unknown and under investigation. CONCLUSIONS Overall, the synergy between PEF and direct transesterification was proven to have potential, in particular for autotrophic microalgae. Its implementation and further optimization in a biorefinery therefore merit further attention. © 2022 The Authors. Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry (SCI).
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By reducing or eliminating the drying step, energy consumption is significantly decreased.
“By reducing or eliminating the drying step, energy consumption is significantly decreased (Papachristou et al., 2023).”
From Microalgae biotechnology and its role in sustainable and healthy food design (2025) · cites this paper as Papachristou et al., 2023
The “Benefits and challenges of implementing direct transesterification” section says the process works on wet microalgae and avoids drying expenses. It does not quantify a decrease in energy consumption from skipping drying; its explicit discussion of significant energy savings concerns solvent recycling instead. (LLM, conf=0.82)
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Microalgae biotechnology and its role in sustainable and healthy food design
Schneider, A. T., Machado, R. L. S., Dutra, D. A., Machado, E. F., Dias, R. R., Deprá, M. C., Zepka, L. Q., & Jacob-Lopes, E. (2025) · Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology · doi:10.3389/fbioe.2025.1716473 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
- Authors
- Papachristou, I., Zhang, S., Gorte, O., Ochsenreither, K., Wüstner, R., Nazarova, N., Frey, W., & Silve, A.
- Affiliations
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Papachristou, I
- Silve, A
- Venue
- Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2022-12-21
- Volume
- 98
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 642-650
- ISSN
- 0142-0356 (ISSN-L)
- 0268-2575
- 1097-4660
- OpenAlex
- W4312106812
- Cited by
- 9
- References
- 56
- Citations by year
- 2025: 4 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 1
- FWCI
- 0.41
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Funders
- European Commission (727874)
- 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 › Biotechnology › Microbial Inactivation Methods
- Keywords
- direct transesterification, pulsed electric field, microalgae, Auxenochlorella protothecoides, fatty acid methyl esters, microalgal lipids, autotrophic cultivation, mixotrophic cultivation, biodiesel, biorefinery, lipid extraction
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