Energy efficient process for microalgae cell disruption for oil recovery using triiodide resin

Abstract Oil recovery from microalgal cells is a crucial step in microalgal biodiesel production. Cell disruption is an essential step for lipid extraction from algal biomass. Performance of a new un-conventional disruption method for microalgae cell lysis is reported. Triiodide resin was used for cell disruption for oil recovery from microalgae liquid culture. Cell disruption efficiency depended on contact time and resin quantity along with microalgal strain characteristics. Microalgal strains with a rigid cell structure and small cell size required long contact time and more resin. Time required for cell lysis varied from 30 to 180 min. Cell disruption efficiency and oil extraction ranged from 50 to 100% and 50 to 80% respectively. Cell lysis and oil recovery were dependent largely on microalgal strains and its oil content. During cell disruption process with the triiodide resin, oil was distributed into three different phases. Water phase contained about 20% of total oil, 40–50% remained within the ruptured cells and the remaining 20–30% was adsorbed onto the resin. Triiodide resin-assisted microalgae cell lysis is a low energy process as it is operated at ambient conditions.