Patent ID: 8748161
Filing Date: 2014-06-10
Classification: C10L,C11B,C12M,G01N

Abstract:
1. A method of extracting lipid from a microbial biomass that contains lipid, other hydrocarbon components, carbohydrates, and/or proteins, wherein the method comprises: (a) applying a hydrophobic ionic liquid solvent to the microbial biomass so that the lipid becomes at least partially dissolved in the hydrophobic ionic liquid solvent to form a lipid-solvent and microbial biomass mixture, wherein the mixture comprises a lipid-solvent layer; (b) separating at least part of the lipid-solvent layer from the mixture to obtain a lipid-solvent component and an at least partially delipidated component; and (c) recovering lipid from the lipid-solvent component by applying an antisolvent to the lipid-solvent component, thereby removing the hydrophobic ionic liquid from the lipid-solvent component, wherein the antisolvent is an inorganic salt solution immiscible with lipid.