Angel  Gonzalez-Delgado, Jeffrey  Leon-Pulido, Yeimmy  Peralta-Ruiz, 
    Simulation and Environmental Assessment of Alternatives for Biodiesel
Production Using Residual Microbiota from Colombian Wastewater,
    Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences,
    Volume 12,Issue 20,
    2017,
    Pages 5239-5246,
    ISSN 1816-949x,
    jeasci.2017.5239.5246,
    (https://makhillpublications.co/view-article.php?doi=jeasci.2017.5239.5246)
    Abstract: Organic load present in wastewater and local environmental conditions, encourage the growth of
biomass potentially exploitable in biotechnological processes, microbiota produced in Colombian wastewater
treatment plants presents high biomass productivity and high lipid yield compared with other third generation
biofuels sources. In this research, three routes of biodiesel production from Wastewater microbiota (WTP) were
evaluated by varying the method of lipid extraction: Hexane-Based Extraction (HBE), extraction assisted with
High-Speed Homogenization (SHE) and extraction using Ethanol/Hexane mixture (EHE), the evaluation was
carried out under a technical approach by process simulation and evaluation of potential environmental
impacts. Simulation was performed using Aspen Plus v.8.8, based on real macroscopic composition of the WTP
microbiota and real process efficiencies based on experimental information. The environmental assessment was
performed using the WAR algorithm taking into account 8 impact categories. Results shows that for a
processing capacity of 47 kt/y, SHE pathway presents the highest lipid recovery efficiency in comparison to
HBE and EHE pathways, however, the best alternative is not suitable for large-scale processing due to high
energy requirements. In the other hand, EHE route presents a lower potential environmental impact generated
due to complete transformation of highly harmful substances into other with lower toxicity. In addition, HBE
topology presents higher risks associated with toxicity of the solvents used.
    Keywords: Microbiota;biofuels;yield;environmental evaluation;information;HBE