Methods for removing contaminants from algal oil

1. A method for removing contaminants from algal oil, the method comprising the steps of:

extracting a contaminant-containing algal oil from algae cells to form a crude algal oil that comprises the contaminant-containing algal oil and that is substantially free of the algae cells;

combining a sulfuric acid-aqueous solution that has a pH of about 1 or less with the crude algal oil at treatment conditions that include a temperature of from about 4 to about 25° C. and at a predetermined acid to oil ratio of from about 1:4 to about 4:1, wherein the predetermined acid to oil ratio is defined by a first weight of the sulfuric acid-aqueous solution to a second weight of the contaminant-containing algal oil to form an effluent that comprises a treated algal oil phase and contaminants in an acidic aqueous phase, wherein the contaminants comprise metals, phosphorus, or combinations thereof;

removing the acidic aqueous phase from the effluent to form a contaminant-depleted algal oil containing about 10 wt. % or less of the contaminants that were originally present in the contaminant-containing algal oil.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of combining comprises combining the sulfuric acid-aqueous solution that has the pH of from about 1 to about −1 with the contaminant-containing algal oil.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of combining comprises combining the sulfuric acid-aqueous solution that has the pH of from about 0 to about −0.5 with the contaminant-containing algal oil.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the treatment conditions include a temperature of from about 4 to about 20° C.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the treatment conditions include a temperature of from about 4 to about 15° C.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of combining comprises combining the sulfuric acid-aqueous solution with the contaminant-containing algal oil at the treatment conditions that include a residence time of from about 30 minutes to about 8 hours, wherein the residence time is defined by an amount of time that the contaminant-containing algal oil is in contact with the sulfuric acid-aqueous solution to form the effluent.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of combining comprises combining the sulfuric acid-aqueous solution with the contaminant-containing algal oil at the predetermined acid to oil ratio of from about 1:2 to about 2:1.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of combining comprises combining the contaminant-containing algal oil with the sulfuric acid-aqueous solution that comprises sulfuric acid present in an amount of from about 1 to about 50 wt. % of the sulfuric acid-aqueous solution.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of removing comprises separating the acidic aqueous phase from the effluent to form an acidic contaminant-containing aqueous solution, and the method further comprises the step of:

introducing a base-containing composition to the acidic contaminant-containing aqueous solution to neutralize the acidic contaminant-containing aqueous solution.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of combining comprises combining the sulfuric acid-aqueous solution with the contaminant-containing algal oil that contains the contaminants comprising Ca, Fe, Mg, Na, Zn, K, P, or combinations thereof.

11. A method for removing contaminants from algal oil, the method comprising the steps of:

extracting a contaminant-containing algal oil from algae cells to form a crude algal oil that comprises the contaminant-containing algal oil and that is substantially free of the algae cells;

introducing the crude algal oil and a sulfuric acid-aqueous solution that has a pH of about 1 or less at a predetermined acid to oil ratio of from about 1:4 to about 4:1 to a reactor that is operating to a reactor that is operating at treatment conditions that include a temperature of from about 4 to about 25° C. to form an effluent that comprises a treated algal oil phase and contaminants in an acidic aqueous phase, wherein the contaminants comprise metals, phosphorus, or combinations thereof; and

introducing the effluent to an oil-water separation zone to remove the acidic aqueous phase from the effluent and form a contaminant-depleted algal oil.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the step of introducing the contaminant-containing algal oil comprises introducing the sulfuric acid-aqueous solution that has the pH of from about 1 to about −1 to the reactor.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the step of introducing the contaminant-containing algal oil comprises operating the reactor at the treatment conditions that include a residence time of from about 30 minutes to about 8 hours, wherein the residence time is defined by an amount of time that the contaminant-containing algal oil is in contact with the sulfuric acid-aqueous solution to form the effluent.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the step of introducing the effluent comprises separating the acidic aqueous phase from the effluent to form an acidic contaminant-containing aqueous solution, and the method further comprises the step of:

introducing the acidic contaminant-containing aqueous solution and a base-containing composition to a neutralizing zone to neutralize the acidic contaminant-containing aqueous solution with the base-containing composition.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the treatment conditions include a temperature of from about 4 to about 20° C.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein the treatment conditions include a temperature of from about 4 to about 15° C.

17. A method for removing contaminants from algal oil, the method comprising the steps of:

extracting a contaminant-containing algal oil from algae cells to form a crude algal oil that comprises the contaminant-containing algal oil and that is substantially free of the algae cells;

introducing the crude algal oil and a sulfuric acid-aqueous solution at a predetermined acid to oil ratio of from about 1:4 to about 4:1 to a reactor that is operating at treatment conditions effective to form an effluent that comprises a treated algal oil phase and contaminants in an acidic aqueous phase including a temperature in the range of from about 4 to about 25° C., wherein the contaminants comprise metals, phosphorus, or combinations thereof and the sulfuric acid-aqueous solution comprises sulfuric acid that is present in an amount of from about 1 to about 50 wt. % of the sulfuric acid-aqueous solution, and wherein the predetermined acid to oil ratio is defined by a first weight of the sulfuric acid-aqueous solution to a second weight of the contaminant-containing algal oil; and

introducing the effluent to an oil-water separation zone to remove the acidic aqueous phase from the effluent and form a contaminant-depleted algal oil.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the temperature is in the range of from about 4 to about 20° C.