Solvent extractor powered by solar energy and procedure for the extraction of lipids from microalgae using the same

摘要

The present invention relates to an energy efficient process for the extraction of non-polar lipids from photosynthetically grown micro-algal biomass using low boiling point solvents and utilizing solar energy for heating as well as chilling operations. The invention also relates to improve energy output to input ratio which is the main hurdle in the micro-algal lipid extraction process. The present invention also relates to the recovery of the solvents used for the above processes via solar energy.