Evaluation of fatty acid profile and biodiesel properties of microalga Scenedesmus abundans under the influence of phosphorus, pH and light intensities

The present study dealt with biomass, lipid concentration, fatty acid profile and biodiesel properties of microalga Scenedesmus abundans under different phosphate concentrations, pH and light intensities, one at a time. Among different phosphate concentrations, higher biomass (770.10 +/- 11.0 mg/L) and lipid concentration (176.87 +/- 4.6 mg/L) were at the concentration of 60 mg/L. Light intensity at 6000 lux yielded higher biomass and lipid concentration of 742.0 +/- 9.7 and 243.15 +/- 9.1 mg/L, respectively. The biomass (769.0 +/- 12.3 mg/L) and lipid (179.47 +/- 5.5 mg/L) concentration were highest at pH 8 and pH 6, respectively. All the culture treatments showed marked effect on the fatty acid profile and biodiesel properties of the extracted oil. FAME derived biodiesel properties were compared with European biodiesel standards ( EN 14214), Indian biodiesel standards (IS 15607) and American biodiesel standards (ASTM D 6751-08) to assess the suitability of algal oil as biodiesel feedstock. (C) 2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd.