Primitive techno-economic study of bio-diesel and bio-active compound production from microalgae

Background Microalgae cells can be identified as a potential source for new and renewable energy. The economic investigation for biodiesel and bio-active compound production from the microalgae community ( Bloom ), which are collected from the high rate algal pond (HRAP) constructed to treat municipal wastewater at Zenin wastewater treatment plant, Giza, was the main target of study. Results The microscopical examination showed that Scenedesmus obliquus is the dominant species. The total carotenoids were extracted using jojoba oil and determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to reach 81.44 μg/g. The biodiesel production through acid transesterification reaction recorded 70.6% of fatty acid methyl ester content with high cetane number (44) and low acid value. Such results prove that the obtained biodiesel has better ignition quality. The total phenolic and flavonoid compounds have been derived from the remaining biomass to give 5.36 ± 0.03 and 1.50 ± 0.19 mg/g respectively. Finally, total proteins and carbohydrates content in algal cells were recorded 54.3 and 1.5 mg/g successively Conclusion The preliminary economic evaluation showed that the production of biodiesel and carotenoids from the microalgae growing in municipal wastewater can be considered, as a techno-economic feasible process.