2.

10 Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

2.10.1 Technical summary
To determine the environmental impacts of the processes involved in the
production of biodiesel from Chlorella vulgaris microalgae, a Life Cycle Assessment
was done on the three major processes involved in the biodiesel production. These
processes were spray drying, extraction and transesterification reaction. These
processes were chosen to be studied since among the processes involved, they
were the environmentally critical.
The approach used to conduct the LCA was the gate-to-gate approach which
only considers the input and output associated with the system boundary. It was
determined that the processes used in the production of biodiesel have no harmful
emissions to land, water and air. This might be attributed to the recycling of solvents
and the catalyst used back to the system and it might be due to the fact that there
were no environmentally hazardous chemicals involved in the production. It is
recommended that for lower energy requirement, there should be an alternative for
the extraction process that would not require solvent to separate the oil from the
biomass.
2.10.2 Life cycle assessment of Production of Biodiesel from Chlorella vulgaris Microalgae
2.10.2.1 Goal and scope definition
The object of the assessment of the Life Cycle Assessment was the
processes involved in the production of biodiesel from Chlorella vulgaris microalgae
more specifically the spray drying, extraction and transesterification. These
processes were chosen since they were identified as the environmentally critical
processes among all the processes involved in the production of biodiesel. These
processes will be carried out in the spray drier, extraction vessel (soxhlet) and batch
reactor respectively. The function of the spray drier is the reduction of the water

content in the algal biomass to 3% while the extraction vessel aids in the separation
of oil from the biomass by means of a solvent. On the other hand, the reactor aids
the production of biodiesel through the transesterification reaction in which the
extracted algal oil is reacted with excess methanol in the presence of a base
catalyst.
The functional unit used in this assessment was the amount of algal oil
collected from harvested biomass daily and the reference flow was 1, 335 kg oil/day.
The system boundary to be studied is the production process of biodiesel which was
enclosed by the dashed lines as shown in the system boundary diagram on Figure
2.10.1. In this system boundary, the system that was studied started from the input to
the manufacturing facility (algal strain, urea, water, NaOH, methanol, n-hexane,
energy and resources) up to the output (biodiesel and wastes generated) leaving the
facility. The approach used in this study is the gate-to-gate approach which considers
the input and output associated with the system boundary. Among the eight
processes, the focus of the LCA is the spray drying, extraction and transesterification
which were enclosed by the red line as shown in Figure 2.10.1. It is assumed that
the recycled materials will be recycled several times to the system until their use is
exhausted. When these materials were exhausted, it is assumed that these materials
will not pose harm to the environment since their properties were already degraded .
For the case of the wastewater being recycled, it will be no longer useful if the
nutrients present in it were already depleted and it contains a lot of growth stressors
and microorganisms that will compete on the C.vulgaris growth. When the
wastewater is already exhausted from its use, it will be used for irrigation. For the
exhausted NaOH and n-hexane, it will be kept on storage tanks and be made
available for potential buyers.

Figure 2.10.1. System boundaries for the production of biodiesel from Chlorella
vulgaris oil extraction
With the reference flow and functional unit defined, the amount of the coproducts, material inflow and outflow on the three processes were calculated. These
amount of the material input were then made as basis of the environmental flows to
each of sub-processes. The sources of the data and values used in the material
balance calculations were derived from peer-reviewed journals and 8 th edition Perrys
Chemical Engineering Handbook. The results of the LCA conducted can be used by
potential investors whom are interested to invest in biodiesel generating plants.
2.10.3 Life cycle inventory (LCI)

This phase involves data collection and modelling of the system, as well as
description and verification of data. The data used for the LCI were based from the
material balance presented on Chapter 3. The flow of the raw materials was depicted
on Figure 5.2. The amount of materials going in and out on the three processes
studied was tabulated on Table 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3 respectively.

Figure 2.10.2. Flow diagram of the major input and output on the system boundary
In order to minimize wastes emitted to the environment and in order to
minimize operating cost, recycling was implemented. The recycled materials were
the water removed from drying the algal biomass, n-hexane, NaOH, methanol and
unreacted oil. Aside from the biodiesel produced as the main product, the coproducts produced in the processes involved in Figure 2.10.1 were glycerine and
algal meal. These co-products were identified to have market value. The glycerine is
useful in food and pharmaceutical industries and the algal meal can be sold as a soil

amendment. Figure 2.10.2 depicts the major input and output on the three major
processes studied. It also identifies the product, co-products and the materials
recycled back to the system. In the designed production of biodiesel from C.vulgaris,
there were no identified emissions to land, water and air. This might be attributed to
the recycling of solvents and catalyst used and it might be due to the fact that there
were no environmentally hazardous chemicals involved in the production.
Table 5.1. Life Cycle Inventory for the spray drier (Keenex E. Serdone)
Input
Algal

Units
kg

Value
3,129.40

Output
Algal biomass

Units
kg

biomass
water

kg

3,123.14

water retained kg

Value
3129.40
0

on algae
Energy

kW

6.38

water

kg

3,123.14

removed
Table 5.2. Life Cycle Inventory for the extraction vessel (Valerie K. Chudi-Arinze)
Input
Algal

Units
kg

Value
3129.40

Output
Algal oil

Units
kg

Value
1,335

biomass
Water

kg

1127.943

n-hexane

kg

12294.77

kg

12294.77

water

kg

1127.94

1348.51

removed
Algal meal

kg

1794.40

retained
biomass
n-hexane
Energy

on

kW

Table 5.3. Life Cycle Inventory for the transesterification reactor (Hazel Dawn B.
Patica)
Input
Algal oil
methanol

Units
kg
kg

Value
1,335
431.84

Output
biodiesel
glycerine

Units
kg
kg

Value
3702.5
126.9

NaOH

kg

13.35

NaOH

kg

13.35

Energy

kW

1.31

excess

kg

299.4

methanol
excess oil

kg

106.40

2.3 Life cycle impact assessment (LCIA)

The LCIA aims to describe the environmental consequences of the inputs to
the environmental burdens quantified in the inventory analysis and to understand
and evaluate the size and significance of these potential impacts.
Since there were no determined emissions on the land, air and water, the
processes involved in the production of biodiesel were determined to be
environmentally feasible.

Also, the co-products generated in the production of

biodiesel which were glycerine and algal meals are of economic value and can also
be used for various functions especially the glycerine.
On the other hand, the energy used to run the processes was supplied
electrically thus there were no potential emissions to the atmosphere.

2.4 Interpretation and Improvement

The significant issue presented in this assessment is the evaluation of the
environmental impact of the processes involved in the production of biodiesel from
microalgae, C. vulgaris. The processes that were focused in this LCA were spray
drying, extraction and transesterification reaction.
It was determined that the processes that were studied are environmentally
feasible and there were no emissions to land, water and air that can cause pollution.
It is recommended that for lower energy requirement, there should be an alternative

for the extraction process that would not require solvent to separate the oil from the
biomass.