Using dairy wastewater as algae feedstock for biodiesel production

In India, in their attempts to find a low cost and eco-friendly process for production of biodiesel from biowaste, researchers at Shoolini University’s School of Biotechnology are working on biodiesel derived from a microalgae species, Chlorella pyrenoidosa utilizing dairy wastewater as natural feedstock for the algae.

Shoolini University, Dean of Research & Development, Dr. Sourabh Kulshreshtha, said, “A lot of research is going on around the world on biodiesel and utilising waste for biodiesel production and it has been reported as a renewable, green fuel with better engine emission properties.”

The results demonstrated that the engine performance parameters and emission parameters of the biodiesel produced were better than the conventional petrodiesel with a significant reduction in emission of Carbon dioxide. Further, it was also found to be consistent with biodiesel produced from microalgae grown in chemical fog’s medium but the formation of Nitrogen oxide (NOx) for B100 biodiesel from microalgae grown in dairy waste water medium was found to be in line with petrodiesel ~ 356 ppm as per one of the limiting factors of using biodiesel as a fuel.

Dr. Kulshreshtha said the university is planning to setup a pilot scale plant for the biodiesel production and subsequent commercialization.