Investigation of Ferri-alginate (Fe-Alg) as Environmentally Friendly Catalyst on the Formation of Solketal from Glycerol and Acetone

Alginate is a naturally occurring anionic carbohydrate polymer which could be coupled with metallic cationic molecules to form heterogeneous catalyst. However, the potency of the heterogeneous catalyst on the production of solketal was not explored. This research was proposed to investigate the potency of Ferri-Alginate (Fe-Alg) as a cheap and environmentally friendly catalyst in the solketal reaction. Fe-Alg was synthesized by reacting FeCl3 to sodium alginate with different concentrations (0.1 -0.5 M). Fe-Alg catalyst was characterized both on the physical and chemical activity. By using BET analysis, it was indicated that the addition of FeCl3 concentration increased the surface area of the catalyst. By using TGA/DSC analysis, it was found that Fe-Alg catalyst was stable up to 153°C. From GC/MS analysis, it was found that solketal was formed after the reaction of glycerol and acetone by using Fe-Alg as the catalyst

Enhancement of C-phycocyanin productivity by Arthrospira platensis when growing on palm oil mill effluent in a two-stage semi-continuous cultivation mode

Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is well known as agricultural wastewater that has a high potential as a medium for microalgal growth due to its high macro- and micronutrient content. The cyanobacterium Arthrospira platensis is considered as a species with a high C-phycocyanin (C-PC) content which is important for fine chemical and pharmaceutical applications. However, cultivation of A. platensis on POME to produce economically feasible amounts of C-PC has not been well explored. For this, environmental, nutritional, and cultivation modes (batch, semi-continuous) were varied to optimize C-PC productivity when cultivated at various POME concentrations. Arthrospira platensis was found to grow well on POME. Highest biomass and C-PC concentrations were found on 30–100% POME. Central composite rotatable design (CCRD) response surface methodology demonstrated that C-PC productivity was influenced by urea addition at the optimum salinity. The highest C-PC productivity was found on 100% POME during semi-continuous cultivation, while the addition of phosphorus and urea did not significantly improve C-PC productivity. By applying semi-continuous cultivation with 50% POME at the first stage and 100% POME at the second stage, a similarly high C-PC productivity (4.08 ± 1.3 mg L−1 day−1) was achieved as compared with (artificial) Zarrouk medium during batch cultivation. We conclude that, when using a two-stage semi-continuous cultivation process, A. platensis can produce economically feasible amounts of C-PC when cultivated on 100% POME