algae processing research at the university of texas at austin werst - april 2011
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Algae Processing Research at
the University of Texas at Austin
Program Overview
Mike Werst
April 27, 2011
Why Algae?
• Algae has many uses…..
– Energy
– Fertilizer
– Food
– Medical
– Pollution Control
– …..?
The Problem—Production Cost
• Technical feasibility demonstrated years ago – Present cost to produce 1 gallon of algae oil: $10-30
• Issues…production scale-up and cost reduction – Strain selection/design – oil yield, growth rates, stability
– Production systems – open ponds/bioreactors, phototrophic/heterotrophic
– Measuring oil content during growth
– CO2 and nutrient sources
– Harvesting
– Bi-product recovery
– Capital costs
– Energy and water use
The UT Algae Effort is
• Large – >60 faculty, researchers, and students
– Plus larger group of researchers in associated, related fields
• Multidisciplinary – Biologists, biochemists, physicists and engineers: mechanical, electrical, chemical,
civil and environmental
• Focused on Making Processing Economically Viable – Complete Process
• Algae selection/design
• Growth
• Harvesting
• Dewatering
• Lysing
• Separation
• Metrology – without good process measurements, there is no process control
• Fuel/bi-product production – as needed
• Life cycle analysis – program focus, regulatory acceptance
• Funded by OpenAlgae • UT and Organic Fuels created company in 2008 to license and commercialize algae
processing equipment
Processing
Team
Primary
Focus
UT Algae Processing Team
• Center for Electromechanics – Dr. Bob Hebner
– Robert Pearsall
– Dr. Rhykka Connelly
– Dan Schmid
– Morela Montoya
– Mike Werst
– Dr. Mark Flynn
– Tom Hotz
– Bruce Morison
– Bryan Bunkowski
– Jody Van Reet
– Cynthia Amoles
– Andrew Weldon
– Evan Morison
– Hoyt Thomas
– Dr. John Uglum
• SRP—Separations Research Program (Chem Egr) – Dr. Frank Seibert
– Steve Briggs
– Robert Montgomery
– Ankur Dass
• EWRE—Environmental & Water Resource
Engineering (Civil Egr) – Dr. Lynn Katz
– Dr. Kerry Kinney
– Dr. Eric Chin
– JinYong Choi
– Allison Osborn
– Fernando Salas
– Aurore Mercelat
• Molecular Cell Biology (Natural Sciences) – Dr. Marty Poenie
– Jessica Jones
– Dr. Schonna Manning
• Mechanical Engineering – Dr. Rod Ruoff
– Dr. Colin Beal
– Christopher Myer
• Electrical Engineering – Dr. Alexis Kwasinski
– Sungwoo Bae
Faculty/Staff/Students – 2010-2011
Integrated Algae Processes
• Harvest and concentrate to return 99% of water
• Lyse algae to rupture cells and release lipids (oil)
• Recover oil and biomass without solvent contamination
• Test and measure at each step to validate process
• Process any algae from any growth media
OpenAlgae and The University of Texas Algae Program
Center for Electromechanics Director: Dr. Robert Hebner. Algae Biofuels Program Manager: Mike Werst.
grow
• 4-stage scale-up to raceway ponds
• strain selection -- over 3,000 strains readily available through UTEX Collection
• species-specific optimization to maximize lipid or protein content
• daily analyses of lipid and protein content
harvest/ concentrate
• multiple concentration methods under exploration
• pH adjustment
• proprietary resin technology
• proprietary electrowicking process
lyse • patented technology
employing electromechanical forces strip cell walls and expose lipid droplets
• solvent-less system maintains the integrity of the algal biomass
• works on fresh, brackish, and marine algae
• extremely cost efficient
recovery
• patented membrane technology recovers oils without exposing the algae to solvents
mobile platform
• skid-mounted modular unit at algae site
• pilot or production scale unit will harvest, lyse, and recover oils from algae
• biomass remains untainted by solvents and can be sold for downstream applications (organic fertilizer, feed, etc.)
measure • identify and quantify the types of lipids present in algae • follow the abundance of lipids in algae through the processes of Growth, Harvesting, Lysis, and Recovery • determine the composition of the final oil HPLC Mass Spec NMR TLC
Processing Technology
Overview
CONCENTRATION
Challenges
• Micron Size Algae
• Dilute Concentrations
• High Volumes
• Negatively Charged
• Suspended in Solution
Considerations
• Algae Species (Mix)
• Water Composition
– Brackish/Fresh
– Conductivity, pH, ionic comosition
• Paste or Pumpable Product
• Byproducts
• Cost—largely
Concentration
Semi-Batch Process
ACID
Base
Discharge or Recycle
Discharge
or Recycle
(if stream present)
Increase
the pH
Fill & Recirculation
& Settling
Acidification
& Separation
Deliver to
down stream
ALGAE
CONCENTRATE
pH-Induced
Flocculation De-Flocculation
pH Increase Settling and Deflocculation
Algae
Trucked-In
Or
UT Home
Grown
Semi-Batch Concentration
Process
Continuous Flocculation/
Deflocculation Concentration Process
Features & Technology Potential
Yields biomass not contaminated with flocculants (e.g.,
metals, polymers) that may make the product
unsuitable for some downstream applications
A continuous flow process that utilizes readily available
reagents (base and carbon dioxide) to achieve high
removal efficiencies.
Generates a homogeneous, deflocculated microalgae
slurry which is compatible with UT’s lysing and oil
separation processes.
LYSING
Electromechanical Lysing Background
• Electroporation of
sugarcane
– On-going
– Successful
• Developing
diagnostics to
determine
effectiveness
Brix values of extracted juice (100 pulses)
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
A B C Avg
Bri
x Test
Control
Average Brix
difference: 0.37
Extension to Algae
• Significant challenges – Negligible cost
– No drying
– No solvents
– Unlike sugarcane • Not water soluable
• Physically large structures
– Electroporation alone unlikely
– Cell wall and cell membrane
Insight – Time Scales Matter
• Field applied
– Less than a
microsecond
• Electroporation only
• Physical motion not
possible
– Greater than a
microsecond
• Physical distortion
possible
• Different volumes
have different time
constants
EM Lysing Effectiveness
• Electromechanical cell lysing verified by:
– EM Analysis - good correlation with wave theory
– Spectrophotometric chemical and chlorophyll assays
– Biodiesel and algae oil quantities produced
– Released triglyceride, protein and enzymes analyses
– Fluorescent imaging
– High speed camera imaging
– Scanning electron microscope
• Also use Dounce homogenizer, bead beater, ultrasonic and French press for
comparison
control pulsed
Beal et al., ―Progression of Lipid Profile and Cell Structure in a Research Production Pathway for Algal Biocrude,‖ In Review
Lysis Validation — TEM and SEM Microscopy
Lysis Validation – TEM and SEM
Microscopy
Laboratory Lysing Power Supply
• Marx bank used for lab testing
– Convenient, adjustable voltage
source
– Does not provide optimum wave
shape
– Not efficient or practical for field
use
Solid State Lysing Power
Supply
• Proof of principle
device, designed
built and
demonstrated
• Patents filed
• Paper* published
Cost Implications
• We apply relatively high voltages pulses for a very
short duration
• Power consumption is very low
• Solid state power supply produces very unique pulse
shapes
• Design uses components that are commercially
available
• Design can be manufactured by power electronics
industry
OIL SEPARATION
Oil
Separation
Oil
Separate water
and algae
Concentrated & Lysed
Algae Slurry
―Solventless Process‖
• UT-OpenAlgae patented enhanced coalescence membrane extractor
• No distillation required in solventless operating mode
• May also be used with selective solvents for extraction of other algae bi-products
HPLC Separation Results
Membrane extractor is effective for recovering non-polar oil from well-lysed algae
• Supported with pilot data
• Up to 94% extraction efficiencies demonstrated
• No plugging observed with non or de-flocculated lysed algae concentrate
• Proposed separation mechanism is coalescence
• With solventless operation, cost to operate simply pumping cost to overcome pressure drop across membrane; all components are COTs
Extraction Algae Feed
Extracted Oil
Polar Oil
Polar Oil
HC
DG
HC
BC
DG
ANALYSIS
Cultivation Batch Record
(AC)
CEM
Extraction: Batch Record
(AE)
SRP
Lysing: Batch Record
(AL)
CEM
Harvest: Batch Record
(AH)
EWRE
C-011511-1
H-011511-1
H-011511-2 effluent recycled back to pond
H-011511-3
L-011611-1
L-011611-2
E-011711-1
E-011711-9 final biomass
E-011711-14 final oil
Processing flowchart
Samples are collected before and after
each processing step.
Volume, biomass, and lipid content are
measured. Cellular morphologies are
monitored.
Integrated Mass Balance
Chemical Analyses
• Tools
– TLC
– HPLC/MS
– NMR
– GC/MS
• Track oil throughout processing
– Lipid classes
– Specific lipid species
• Identify components
– Liberated from biomass
– Attached to biomass
Summary
• The solution is multidisciplinary, so UT assembled a team of
university experts and formed a company to commercialize the
technologies
• Optimization of the process requires understanding at the system
level, not just the individual process step level
• The UT-OpenAlgae integrated process is algae and growth method
agnostic
• Significant progress is being made in driving down cost
Contact Information
Mr. Mike Werst
Center for Electromechanics
Algae Program Manager
(512) 232-1604
Mr. Hoyt Thomas
OpenAlgae
President and CEO
(713) 979-2600
Dr. Robert Hebner
Center for Electromechanics
Director
(512) 232-1628