Comparative study of different catalysts mediated FAME conversion from macroalga Padina tetrastromatica biomass and hydrothermal liquefaction facilitated bio-oil production.

Marine macroalgae offer an endurable source of renewable biomass, which do not require cultivable area, fertilizers for cultivation for bioproducts production. In this study, marine brown macroalga Padina tetrastromatica as an alternate sustainable feedstock for the production of liquid fuels. Padina tetrastromatica biomass was collected from Mandapam; the coastal region of Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu, India. and the algal oil was extracted using sequential extractions using various solvents. Petroleum ether (PE) and dichloromethane (DCM) solvent fractions were found to have high lipids and further utilized for biodiesel production, wherein four different heterogeneous nanocatalysts (TiO2, Bio-Fe, GO, and MgO) and commercial homogeneous catalysts (HCl and NaOH) were employed for the transesterification. High fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) recovery (92.3%) was achieved from TiO2 mediated transesterification than the other conventional catalysts. Further, the conversion of algal biomass into bio-oil and by-products was carried out using hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL). Subsequently, the compounds were characterized by FT-IR and GC-MS analysis. The quality parameters of liquid biofuels were examined and they are in accordance with the international fuel standards. Thus, brown macroalga Padina tetrastromatica may be considered as an alternate feedstock for biofuel and other bioproducts production and TiO2 would be a suitable catalyst for the conversion of FAME.