Wang, YaoLee, Yi-YingSantaus, TonyaNewcomb, Charles E.Liu, JinGeddes, ChrisZhang, ChengwuHu, QiangLi, Yantao2024-10-012024-10-012017-06-01Wang, Yao, Yi-Ying Lee, Tonya M. Santaus, Charles E. Newcomb, Jin Liu, Chris D. Geddes, Chengwu Zhang, Qiang Hu, and Yantao Li. ‘In Situ Enzymatic Conversion of Nannochloropsis Oceanica IMET1 Biomass into Fatty Acid Methyl Esters’. BioEnergy Research 10, no. 2 (1 June 2017): 438–48. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-016-9807-2.https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-016-9807-2http://hdl.handle.net/11603/36575Conventionally, production of methyl ester fuels from microalgae occurs through an energy-intensive two-step chemical extraction and transesterification process. To improve the energy efficiency, we performed in situ enzymatic conversion of whole algae biomass from an oleaginous heterokont microalga Nannochloropsis oceanica IMET1 with the immobilized lipase from Candida antarctica. The fatty acid methyl ester yield reached 107.7% for dry Nannochloropsis biomass at biomass to t-butanol to methanol weight ratio of 1:2:0.5 and a reaction time of 12 h at 25 °C, representing the first report of efficient whole algae biomass conversion into fatty acid methyl esters at room temperature. Different forms of algal biomass including wet Nannochloropsis biomass were tested. The maximum yield of wet biomass was 81.5%. Enzyme activity remained higher than 95% after 55 days of treatment (equal to 110 cycles of reaction) under the conditions optimized for dry algae biomass conversion. The low reaction temperature, high enzyme stability, and high yield from this study indicate in situ enzymatic conversion of dry algae biomass may potentially be used as an energy-efficient method for algal methyl ester fuel production while allowing co-product recovery.23 pagesen-USThis version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review (when applicable) and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: "https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-016-9807-2"LipaseBiomassBiofuelNannochloropsis oceanicaEnvironmental ChemistryIn situ enzymatic conversionFatty acid methyl esterText