Comparing the chemical contents of microalgae Spirulina sp with starch and glycine as its model components for energy feedstock purposes

Abstract

The chemical contents of aquatic biomass, such as microalgae, have an essential role in determining its potential as a fuel feedstock. The known major components of microalgae are carbohydrate, protein, and lipid, each of which also has different roles during the thermal conversion process. Therefore, examining the compositions of microalgae and its model components of carbohydrate, protein, and lipid is critical to better understanding the role of each component for fuel purposes. This paper presented the chemical contents of microalgae Spirulina sp and its two model components of carbohydrate and protein. These starch and glycine were considered as the model of pure carbohydrate and protein. The chemical compositions of the samples were examined using Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy. The results show that the major components present in the Spirulina sp were carbon (C) at around 63% and oxygen (O) at around 28%, and the rest were mineral matters, such as Na, Mg, P, S, and Cl. The starch as carbohydrate model contained the C by 60% and O by 39%, whereas Mg was the only minor mineral element present. The protein component modeled by glycine comprises C by 39%, N by 19%, and O by 42%. Each element significantly determined the thermal behavior during the conversion process and affected the products produced. The chemical contents of lipid have yet to be examined in this recent paper and will be studied in future work.