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Literature Review Introduction Due to the increase in carbon dioxide concentration in the earth’s atmosphere, global temperatures have risen steadily and could rise as much as 4ºC in the next decade. (Cox, 2000) Lipids in the form of triglycerides can react with methanol to form methyl esters (biodiesel) and glycerol (Hossain, 2008). Picture 1 – Transesterification Reaction ( http://share.psu.ac.th/file/waraporn.ra/transe sterification.jpg ) Algae yields the largest amount of oil for the smallest percentage of cropping area (Christi, 2007). Purpose The purpose of this experiment was to determine the effects of an acid, base, or enzyme catalyst on the fuel produced by a transesterification reaction between methanol and algal oil Project Goals The goal of this project was to perform a multivariable analysis based on purity, volume produced, and initial cost to determine which catalyst is ultimately the most effective and cost efficient in biodiesel production Pictures 3: Sterile cultures of Nannochloropsis sp. were maintained in 40mL test tubes (Photo by Author) Kulkarni (2006) and Royon (2007) found that a solid acid or an enzyme could be used to catalyze the transesterification reaction Picture 4: The saponification reaction occurs when FFA’s in the triglyceride source react with a base catalyst, this reaction reduces the quality of biodiesel synthesized by transesterification ( http:// www.scielo.br/img/revistas/bdj/v13n2/2a07s3.gif ) Graph 2: Solid acid catalyzed biodiesel production by simultaneous esterification and transesterification. The x-axis represents time and the y- axis represents the percent of esters converted to biodiesel (Kulkarni, 2006) % Ester Time in Minutes Time in Hours Triglycerides Conversion (%) Picture 5: Algae being farmed on a large scale. Algae can be grown in otherwise unarable land as shown (http:// infranetlab.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/ 02/09_02_23_algae_farm03.jpg ) Graph 3 Enzymatic production of biodiesel from cotton seed oil using t-butanol as a solvent. The x-axis represents time and the y-axis represents triglyceride conversion to biodiesel (Royon, 2006) Chart 1 – Comparison of Sources of Triglycerides for Biodiesel (Chisti, 2007) Chart 2 – Comparison of Algae Sources (Chisti, 2007) Picture 2: Sterile cultures of Nannochloropsis sp. were maintained in 1L Erlenmeyer Flask (Photo by Author) Graph 1: In this graph, the x-axis represents time and the y-axis represents the million metric tons of carbon produced a year from fossil fuels. (http:// www.solarnavigator.net/images/Global_ Carbon_Emission_graph.png )
