Characterization of Nizimuddinia zanardini macroalgae biomass composition and its potential for biofuel production

Nizimuddinia zanardini macroalgae, harvested from Persian Gulf, was chemically characterized and employed for the production of ethanol, seaweed extract, alginic acid, and biogas. In order to improve the products yields, the biomass was pretreated with dilute sulfuric acid and hot water. The pretreated and untreated biomasses were subjected to enzymatic hydrolysis by cellulase (15 FPU/g) and β-glucosidase (30 IU/g). Hydrolysis yield of glucan was 29.8, 82.5, and 72.7 g/kg for the untreated, hot-water pretreated, and acid pretreated biomass, respectively. Anaerobic fermentation of hydrolysates by Saccharomyces cerevisiae resulted in the maximum ethanol yield of 34.6 g/kg of the dried biomass. A seaweed extract containing mannitol and a solid residue containing alginic acid were recovered as the main byproducts of the ethanol production. On the other hand, the biogas yield from the biomass was increased from 170 to 200 m3 per ton of dried algae biomass by hot water pretreatment.