Obtaining bioproducts in the context of a sustainable microalgae-based biorrefinery

Abstract

This project has objective the obtaining of bioproducts in the context of a sustainable microalgae-based biorefinery, aiming the strengthening of this line of research in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Escola de Engenharia de Lorena at USP. The microalgae have stood out, compared to other classes of microorganisms, due to the ability to accumulate several bioactive substances of industrial interest, among which antioxidantes, biopolymers, carbohydrates, lipids, pigments, polysaccharides and proteins can be highlighted. Thus, the selected proposal for the development of this project comprises the cultivation of microalgae Dunaliella salina, exploring its potential as a precursor to obtain products of industrial interest, in the energect sector (talking about biodiesel) as well in the cosmetic and food sectors (talking about biopigments), allowing the integration of processes, in the context of a sustainable biorefinery, to obtain different products. Through this approach it is possible to use all fractions of the microalgal biomass obtained by the crops, reducing the process costs and increasing its viability. To achieve this goal, in a first step, it will be evaluated the influence of the type of photobioreactor used in the cultivation (airlift and bubble column) in obtaining the target products of interest. Then, the performance of different cell disruption methods and solvents used for the extraction of each bioproduct will be evaluated, selecting the most suitable to release the cell content of interest, which will be characterized according to the project parameters. Finally, microalgal biomass will be used to obtain biodiesel by heterogeneous catalysis as the catalytic route, which has the main advantage the direct use of biomass, without prior lipid extraction. The contribution of this project will be the development of national technologies for biotechnological processes in the manufacture of products of industrial interest. In addition, it will also allow the strengthening of an important area of activity at EEL / USP, contributing to the development of new technological routes that encompass the energy and food sectors, increasing Brazilian competitiveness in the international market.