Bio-Oil Production From Microalgae By Pyrolysis: A Mini-Review

Abstract

Fossil fuel (petroleum, coal, natural gas) reserves have decreased, so it has been necessary to find renewable, sustainable and eco-friendly resources. Biofuels which have been classified as bioethanol, biodiesel, biogas etc. have been obtained from biomass resources. Microalgae as a biomass source can be cultivated in fresh water, brine, sewage or barren lands in a short span of time on a large scale. Its production technology requires the steps which are cultivation, harvesting and drying. After that, the methods such as pyrolysis, transesterification or fermentation can be used for biofuel production from microalgae. Bio-oil production from microalgae have been done by using pyrolysis technique. It has been possible that after upgrading, microalgal bio-oil has been used as biofuel. Upgrading has been necessary because the bio-oil has possessed some undesired properties such as high oxygen content, low high heating value, high viscosity. Thermal cracking with zeolites and co-pyrolysis with several materials have been used to obtain high quality biofuel in one step. Besides that, it has been possible to use bio-oil as a chemical resource because it composes of 100 invaluable compounds in average such as oxygenated ones.