Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. is India’s largest company by sales with a turnover of Rs. 285,337 crore and profit of Rs. 2,950 crore for fiscal 2008-09. IndianOil controls 10 of India’s 20 refineries. The group refining capacity is 60.2 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) or 1.2 million barrels per day -the largest share among refining companies in India. It accounts for 33.8% share of national refining capacity. IndianOil has 10,000 km pipeline net work with a capacity of about 62 million metric tonnes per year.

Indian Oil’s R&D Centre, established in 1972, has state-of –the art facilities and has delivered pioneering results in lubricants technology, refining process, pipeline transportation, bio-fuels and fuel-efficient appliances. Focused research in the areas of lubricants and grease formulations, fuels, refining processes, biotechnology, additives, pipeline transportations, engine evaluation, tribiological and emission studies, and applied metallurgy has won several awards.

Indian Oil R&D centre has done pioneering work in the area of Jatropha biodiesel.  Currently work is going on algal biofuel, lignocellulosic biofuel and organic waste transformation to gaseous fuel.  In algal biofuel area the research is focused on  selection of potential strains for open pond cultivation and micro-algal assisted transformation of sugars to lipid.

Speaker Profile
Dr Manoj Upreti has obtained PhD (Biotechnology) from Indian Industrial Toxicology Research, Lucknow, India in  2002. He also has a MBA ( Operation research) from IGNOU- New Delhi, India in 2004

He has published some 15 papers in peer reviewed journals, presented 25 papers in conferences/symposium, and has 7 patent applications

His research interest is in Petroleum biotechnology, bioremediation of oily sludge, algal biofuels, heterotrophic cultivation of microalgae and  microbial corrosion

Overview of Presentation
In the development of algal biofuels, the selection of the suitable species is a one of the important aspect for commercial success. Petroleum refining industries use huge amount of water in their operations and effluent discharge contains hydrocarbons, heavy metals and other contaminants. The presentation covers the study on lipid productivity and CO2 mitigation potential of chlorella isolates from hydrocarbon contaminated water.

Several Chlorella isolates were obtained from effluent treatment plant of a hydrocarbon refinery, considering their adaptation for hydrocarbons, heavy metals and other contaminants present in the refinery wastewater. Experimentations were carried out to find out optimum media, nitrogen source, pH, temperature and other culture conditions for higher growth and lipid production. The ability of Chlorella species to grow at different CO2 concentration vis-a-vis their biomass and lipid productivity was also evaluated. The Chlorella species were further evaluated their adaptability to grow at different hydrocarbon concentrations, heavy metal concentration, salt concentrations in refinery wastewater.

The results showed the Chlorella species grows up to 40% C02 with biomass yield of 3.0-4.0 g/l (dcw) in laboratory conditions with oil content up to 22-27% (w/w).  The lipid profile  has been found to be suitable for biodiesel production. Selected strains were further evaluated for their growth in environmental conditions in open ponds of around 200 L-600 L capacities.

Algae World Asia 2009 Bangkok Speaker
Day 1 – Tuesday, September 29
16:35      Lipid Productivity and CO2 Mitigation Potential of Chlorella Isolates from Hydrocarbon Contaminated Water

ALGAE WORLD ASIA 2009 is a conference dedicated towards providing objective insights on the commercialization of Algae Biofuels, as well the latest advances and constraints in Algae cultivation, harvesting & processing. To find more about Algae World Asia in Bangkok from September 29 to 30, 2009, please visit http://www.futureenergyevents.com/algae/.