Development of an Integrated Process for Bio-Oil Production from Microalgae

In this paper an integrated process for bio-oil, fine chemicals and energy production from microalgae in photobioreactors is proposed. The proposed process is aimed to: fix carbon dioxide coming from thermovalorization plants; use the industrial effluents containing organic carbon and nitrogen for the heterotrophic growth of microalgae; obtain bio-oil as raw material for biodiesel production; produce high value-added fine chemicals; increase the thermal value of the solid residue for energy production. The selected strains (Chlorella vulgaris and Nannochloropsis oculata) were used in lab-scale reactors in order to optimise the operating conditions for maximising oil production