Kinetic modeling of microalgal growth and lipid synthesis for biodiesel production

A mathematical modeling of microalgae biomass is an essential step to optimize the biomass and lipid production rate and to reduce the cost of microalgal biodiesel production system. In the present study, kinetic studies were carried out to describe the growth and neutral lipid production of two marine microalgae Chlorella salina and Nannochloropsis oculata under the nitrogen-repleted and -depleted conditions using logistic and Luedeking–Piret equations. This research paper provides the information on mathematically efficient procedure to predict suitable environment condition for biomass and lipid production. The predicted results were compared with experimental data, which showed that this model closely agreed with simulated results. From this investigation, it was found that nitrogen was an essential nutrient for algal growth, which increased under nitrogen-rich condition, whereas during nitrogen-limited condition some loss in growth was observed but with increased lipid content. Since metabolic changes occurred under nitrogen- depleted state, the protein and carbohydrate pathways were shifted to lipid biosynthesis.