The FAME sample was dissolved in heptane (1 mL), and then
was mixed with 0.1 mL of ethyl arachidate (Nu-Chek Prep, Inc., Elysian,
Minnesota), which was used as an internal standard. Finally,
the sample was analyzed using a PerkinElmer Clarus 500 GC-mass
spectrometer (GC-MS) with a split automatic injector and an RtxWAX
(Restek, Bellefonte, PA) column (length: 60 m; ID: 0.25 mm,
coating: 0.25 lm). Details of the procedure have been described
elsewhere [13]. The column was held at 120 C for 1 min and
ramped to 240 C at 20 C/min, and it was then held at 240 C for
13 min. The transfer line between GC and MS was kept at 240 C.
The FAME content of biodiesel was quantified by its weight relative
to the weight of dry algal biomass.