GROWTH OF MICROALGAE IN REGARDS TO BIODIESEL PRODUCTION

Ben PetersonCHME 486

Reduction In recent years there has been an increase in

global effort to reduce humanity’s carbon footprint

Governments are establishing new emission reduction targets European Union’s target of between 10 and 20%

by 2020 Germany’s suggestion of a 30% cut by 2020 if

matched by other nations United States in the range of 26 to 28 percent

below the 2005 levels by 2025

Alternative Technologies Transportation sector shown to have a

total greenhouse gas contribution of 78% to the overall increase of emissions from 1979 to 2010

Production of crop-derived biodiesel and bioethanol Soybean Corn Oil palms

Microalgae Water based micro-organisms with

40,000 species already identified Convert fatty acids into lipids using a

process called esterification

Figure 1: Green algae (Chlorophyceae) is

one of 40,000 species of microalgae already

identified.

Optimal Microalgae Growth Conditions

Lighting conditions with waves between 450 nm and 650 nm in length while also incorporating a dark cycle where little to no light is present

Temperature range of 25-35°C Water pH range between 7 and 9 concentration of 350-1000 ppm with

adequate mixing

Current Growth Processes Several processes are currently being

used to grow microalgae for biodiesel production

Utilize specific growth conditions to best produce microalgae Suspended culture set up Immobilized cultures Open pond system

Open Pond System Shallow ponds which are uncovered and

open to the environment where microalgae is grown

High rate algal pond also known as a raceway pond

Figure 2: Algal raceways are shallow ponds with a paddle wheel used to distribute nutrients for

microalgae growth.

Optimizing Production Possibility of genetically manipulating

algae through stress conditions in the growth process

Nitrogen starvation Produce microalgae at a maximum

concentration ranging between 2 g/L and 3.6 g/L

Two of the species (Nannochloropsis sp., and Newchloris oleabundans) showing around a 50% increase in oil quantity

Wastewater Treatment Facilities

Figure 3: The Logan Lagoon waste water treatment facility located in Logan, Utah. Utah State’s biological engineering department conducts algae based research

utilizing the facility.

Harvesting Microalgae There is no single best, current method

used to harvest microalgae Existing methods

Flocculation Micro screening Centrifugation

Future processing systems must utilize cost and energy efficient designs to allow for the feasibility of biodiesel produced from microalgae

The RABR

Figure 4: The Rotating Algal Biofilm Reactor (RABR) designed at Utah State

University.

4000 ft of solid braided cotton rope wrapped around 74’’ diameter irrigation wheels

Combination of both algal growth and water treatment

Conclusions Microalgae has tremendous potential for

future production of biodiesel with hopes of reducing the world’s dependence on fossil fuels

Several methods of growing and harvesting of microalgae are available

Genetic manipulation of algae strains and the development of efficient growing and harvesting systems used to make microalgae more economically feasible

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