Identifying some Characteristics of Cladophora sp. and testing its efficiency as a source for biofuel Production

Abstract

Excessive reliance on fossil fuel has contributed to the increase in greenhouse gas emissions and many harmful environmental effects, Therefore, there was a need to find alternative and safe bioenergy sources. Biofuel is one of the alternative and environmentally friendly products that is made from biological materials, Algae is one of these materials that can be used as a source of production biofuel in this study, the efficiency of Cladophora sp. for the production of biodiesel was tested and the results of the chemical content study showed that the percentage of oil was 11.40, carbohydrates 47.36%, and proteins 12.07%. The oil was used to produce biodiesel after conducting the esterification process using two types of catalysts, the acid catalyst (H2SO) and the base catalyst (KOH). Fatty acids and esters were identified, and the percentage of esters was 45.25%, 6.42%, and 1.53% for hydrocarbons and fatty acids, respectively.