Catalytic deoxygenation of microalgae oil to green hydrocarbons

Microalgae are high potential raw biomass material for triglyceride feedstock, due to their high oil content and rapid growth rate, and because algae cultivation does not compete with edible food on arable land. This review addresses first the microalgae cultivation with an overview of the productivity and growth of microalgae, the recovery of lipids from the microalgae, and chemical compositions of microalgae biomass and microalgal oil. Second, three basic approaches are discussed to downstream processing for the production of green gasoline and diesel hydrocarbons from microalgae oil, including cracking with zeolite, hydrotreating with supported sulfided catalysts and hydrodeoxygenation with non-sulfide metal catalysts. For the triglyceride derived bio-fuels, only “drop-in” gasoline and diesel range components are discussed in this review.