Glycerol feedstock utilization for oil-based fuel manufacturing
First Claim
1. A method of triglyceride manufacturing, the method comprising:
- (a) heterotrophically culturing a microalga in a culture medium comprising glycerol supplied to the culture medium at a concentration of at least 500 mM as a source of fixed carbon in the dark supporting production of microbial biomass, wherein the glycerol is a byproduct of a transesterification process and is contaminated with methanol or ethanol from the transesterification process and/or wherein the glycerol is non-acidulated; and
(b) separating the triglyceride from the microbial biomass using simultaneous heat and mechanical lysis.
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Abstract
The invention provides methods of manufacturing biodiesel and other oil-based compounds using glycerol and combinations of glycerol and other feedstocks as an energy source in fermentation of oil-bearing microorganisms. Methods disclosed herein include processes for manufacturing high nutrition edible oils from non-food feedstock materials such as waste products from industrial waste transesterification processes. Also included are methods of increasing oil yields by temporally separating glycerol and other feedstocks during cultivation processes. Also provided herein are oil-bearing microbes containing exogenous oil production genes and methods of cultivating such microbes on glycerol and other feedstocks.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method of triglyceride manufacturing, the method comprising:
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(a) heterotrophically culturing a microalga in a culture medium comprising glycerol supplied to the culture medium at a concentration of at least 500 mM as a source of fixed carbon in the dark supporting production of microbial biomass, wherein the glycerol is a byproduct of a transesterification process and is contaminated with methanol or ethanol from the transesterification process and/or wherein the glycerol is non-acidulated; and (b) separating the triglyceride from the microbial biomass using simultaneous heat and mechanical lysis. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification