Evaluation of Micro-Algae Biomass in the Limoncocha Lagoon as a Raw Material for the Production of Bio-fuels

Abstract It was determined the best experimental conditions for the production and evaluation of microalgae biomass, which come from Limoncocha, for the purpose of proving the feasibility of use in biofuel acquisition. Different crops were monitored in order to obtain the growth kinetics of microalgae and establish the yield with which they are produced on a laboratory scale controlling the different variables that interfere in this process. Once the biomass was gotten in the photo bioreactors, it was characterized to know its composition and lipid content. The productivity for the first consortium Vischeria/Scenedesmus sp was of 0,088 g L-1 day-1, which reached a total of 5030000 cel/mL and for the second consortium Chlorella/Monoraphidium Contortum sp was of 0,091 g L-1 day-1 with a total of 5537636 cel/mL. For the lipid composition through Soxhlet method by using a mixture of chloroform / methanol as solvents, the gotten results were from 16% out of the total lipids for Vischeria/Scenedesmus sp consortium and 42 % for Chlorella/Monoraphidium Contortum sp consortium.http://ingenieria.ute.edu.ec/enfoqueute/index.php/revista/article/view/19