As a renewable energy source, oil-producing algae have received much attention in recent years. Raw oil, which is normally extracted from algae using solvents such as hexane or ethyl acetate, includes trace metal compounds that rapidly deactivate the hydrogenation catalyst. In this study, metal removal from hexane-extracted algae oil with supercritical and subcritical propane extraction was examined at temperatures from 40 degrees C to 130 degrees C and at 6 MPa pressure. The results showed that the metal concentration became decreasing with temperature increasing and metals were not detectable at 114 degrees C. Using these results, an energy saving process was proposed. Simulation results showed that the metal removal required a mere 3-4% energy consumption compared to a lower heating value of raw oil. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.