Abstract:
Biodiesel production from natural resources has drawn global attention due to its cost
effectiveness, eco friendliness and sustainability compared to the conventional fossil fuels.
This work was aimed to select the best marine flora available in the Northern Sri Lankan sea
to produce biodiesel and to optimize the conditions to produce higher yield. Five species of
macro flora such as Sargassum sp, Ulva fasiata, Turbinaria ornata, Gellidium sp, Thallasia
sp were collected from the coastal area of the Jaffna peninsula and washed thoroughly with
water(mixed with NaOH) and dried under direct sun light. The organic solvents used to
extract oil from marine plant species were n-Hexane and Di-ethyl Ether, while alkaline
catalysts were used to convert the extracted oil into biodiesel via trans-esterification reaction.
Higher oil quantity was obtained from Sargassum sp compared to other marine macro floral
species, and it was selected for further studies. Optimum conditions for biodiesel production
were identified as molar ratio of methanol to algae (4:1), catalyst amount in the reaction
mixture (0.6%), reaction temperature (60oC) and reaction time (25minutes). When the
optimum conditions were provided, the percentage of biodiesel production was significantly
increased by 11.7-fold than the non-optimized conditions from Sargassum sp. Therefore,
optimization of conditions during trans-esterification, significantly increased the biodiesel
production from Sargassum sp.
