Caracterización de actividad lipasa endógena de especies de microalgas y desarrollo de transesterificación in situ para la producción de ésteres etílicos de ácidos grasos, como materia prima para biocombustibles

Microalgae are one of the sources of renewable biofuels with high potential for the coming years, due to their favorable characteristics compared to other bioenergetic crops. However, the related knowledge, techniques and industrialization must still be generated to reduce the environmental impact and the high cost of conventional production of biofuels from microalgal oil. The main problems of oil processing are its high extraction costs and polluting and inefficient processes in the transesterification stage. The objective of this study is to develop a process of transesterification by endogenous lipase activity of wild microalgae of Costa Rica, for the production of alternative biofuels. Lipases are natural enzymes in the microalgae that will allow transesterification of the oil in the wet biomass, reducing costs of drying and oil extraction, as well as the lack of catalysts for the production of the raw material for biofuel (fatty acid methyl esters or FAEE) because the same biomass enzymes can conduct this reaction with high yields of up to 80%. The first stage of the project is the study of 3 microalgal strains to find a strain with high lipase activity and subsequently induce the selected microalgae to produce greater amounts of oils by modifying the growth conditions, these oils will later be transformed into precursors of Biofuels through direct transesterification in wet biomass by adding ethanol to generate FAEE. This last phase involves the study of multiple factors such as temperature, pH, reagent concentration, among others, to generate a novel process with the identification of strains and reaction conditions. Through a transdisciplinary approach involving Chemists and Biotechnologists, in addition to the reintegration of the Ph.D. M.Eng Karla Meneses who is a specialist in enzymatic processes for oil conversion in FAEE, the collaboration of Hashem Bullion Company Pty Ltd, would advance in the Bioenergy research to generate biofuels in the future in our country. This project is part of the transversal axes of "Energy and Industry and is a first phase to obtain a small-scale FAEE. In the future, the processes developed may be scaled up, allowing maximum yields to be applied to projects of great interest (national and international), positioning the TEC as an innovative institution in the field of "alternative bioenergy".

Áreas de Investigación de la Escuela de Biología: Biotecnología Ambienta