Chapter 1

PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING

1.1 Introduction
Energy crisis is one of the problems the world is facing today. Most of the energy
that the people are consuming come from non-renewable sources like fossil fuels.
However, its sources that are available on earth are limited. In response, the dependence
on fossil fuels must be reduced and an alternative source of energy must be generated.
Recently, biofuels are produced from plants and microbes. These are green and
renewable energy that can resolve to the problem on increased usage of fossil fuels.
Microalgae are a diverse group of unicellular organisms that grow in suspension
within a body of water. They grow very quickly compared to terrestrial crops. They
commonly double in size every 24 hours. Microalgae have long been recognized as
potentially good sources for biofuel production because of their high oil content and
rapid biomass production. Algal biomass contains three main components:
carbohydrates, proteins and lipids or natural oils. The natural oil made by microalgae is
in the form of tricylglycerol, which is the raw material for producing bioethanol and
biodiesel transport fuels.
Utilization of biofuel from microalgae requires a drying process for lipid
extraction. Drying of algal biomass comprises of depositing a layer of a concentrated
aqueous suspension of algal biomass on a hydrophobic surface and putting the said layer
in contact with hot air. Oven drying is one of the methods used for microalgal drying,
which is the focus of this project. With oven drying, the sample is heated under specified

conditions, and the loss of weight is used to calculate the moisture content of the sample.
Microalgae that have undergone an inefficient drying would result to loss of vital
elements of producing sustainable biofuel.