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US 2012/0238732 A1Published application
Oil extraction from microalgae
AssigneeIowa State University Research Foundation, Inc.
InventorTong Wang
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Abstract
A method of oil extraction and biomass recovery from microalgae is disclosed. Methods according to the invention extract lipids from a biomass source and concentrate protein in the solid biomass source by alcohol processing. Aqueous alcohol processing methods provide extraction and separation techniques for lipids and protein-rich biomass suitable for biofuels.
Claims21
A method for co-fractionating lipid and protein from a biomass source comprising:
- introducing an oleaginous microalgae biomass source in an aqueous environment;
- lysing cell structure of said biomass source using sonication to generate an algal suspension;
- introducing an ethanol solvent at an elevated temperature to de-emulsify or destabilize said algal suspension;
- and
- separating a solid phase and an ethanol phase by centrifugation for further extraction of protein and lipid content;
- and
- extracting lipid and protein components, wherein said method obtains improved lipid and protein fractionation compared to a pure aqueous method.
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A method for co-fractionating lipid and protein from a biomass source comprising:
- introducing an oleaginous microalgae biomass source;
- lysing cell structure of said biomass source using sonication to generate an algal suspension;
- dewatering said algal suspension using a 50% ethanol solvent to recover a liquid and a solid phase;
- introducing a concentrated ethanol solvent at an elevated temperature to said solid phase for further fractionization of said biomass source;
- and
- separating a solid phase and an ethanol phase by centrifugation for further extraction of protein and lipid content wherein said method obtains improved lipid and protein fractionation compared to a pure aqueous method.
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Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.