biofuels presentation
TRANSCRIPT
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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