Mass cultivation of various algal species and their evaluation as a potential candidate for lipid production

Microalgae have been proposed as a promising source for biodiesel production. Focusing on algal strains for biodiesel production, efforts should be made to search new strains. Experiments were carried out to investigate the effects of growth parameters (nutrients, pH, light, aeration and temperature) and the oil percentage of eight algal strains (Chlorella sp., Cladophora sp., Hydrodictylium sp., Oedogonium sp., Oscillatoria sp., Spirogyra sp., Stigeocolonium sp., Ulothrix sp.). Results show that 6.5–7.5 is the optimum pH for the growth of all algal species. Temperature showed a greater variation (25°40°C). Ulothrix sp. gave more biomass productivity and is the most suitable strain for biodiesel production due to higher oil percentage (62%). Least biomass production was observed for Stigeocolonium sp. and least oil content was obtained from Hydrodictylium sp. It was observed that among these eight algal strains for biodiesel production, Ulothrix and Chlorella are the most promising algae species.