DEPARTMENT OF BIOTECHNOLOGYBANASTHALI VIDYAPITH

Algal Production for Biofuel

Meraj JafriLSMSM15052

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Content

1.Introduction : Algae-- Types--Uses

2. Algae fuel-- History: Biofuel-- Feasibility-- Oil Extraction Process-- Biological Process

3. Algae Production: -- Closed loop system-- Open pond -- Algal turf scrubber--Hybrid System

4. Yielding Species5. Current Researches6. Future Predictions7. Conclusion8. References

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Introduction

Introduction

• Algae is an informal term for a large, diverse group of eukaryotes.• It is - Simple plant - Most live in water - Photosynthetic

- Capture light energy- Convert inorganic to organic matter

-Nonvascular - Use lipids and oils to help float in water

• Range from unicellular genera (Chlorella , Diatoms) to multicellular forms, ( giant kelp, a large brown alga)

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Types

Types

• Red Algae– Benthic– Macro

• Green Algae– Chlorophyll a and b– Plants– Freshwater

• Brown Algae– Benthic– Macro– Kelp– Marine

• Diatoms– Single celled– Silica cell wall

• Blue Green Algae– Vertical migration– Fix N2 from air– Freshwater

• Dinoflagellates– Toxic; suck out O2

– Cause red tides– Organic matter

Physical and Chemical Uses

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Uses

Uses

Algae is used for many purposes in different fields.

1. Agar

2.Alginates

3. Fertilizer

4. Nutrition

5. Pollution control

6. Bioremediation

7. Pigments

Physical and Chemical Uses

DATA COLLECTION Uses

Most popular use of Algae is for the extraction of different biofuels.

Biohydrogen

Biodiesel

Jet Fuel

 Fats and oils

Butanol fuel and Ethanol Fuel

8. Biofuel

Background

DATA COLLECTION Algae fuel

Algae fuel or algal biofuel is an

Biofuel

alternative to liquid fossil fuels that uses algae as its source of energy-rich oils.

History•In 1942 Harder and Von Witsch were the first to propose that microalgae be grown as a source of lipids for food or fuel.

Microalgae

-- Utilized waste CO2 from coal fired power plants.

-- Production of biodiesel from high lipid-content algae grown in ponds.

--The main focus of the program was known as the Aquatic Species Program (or ASP)

•From 1978 to 1996 the U.S. Department of Energy funded a program to develop renewable transportation fuels from algae

DATA COLLECTION Algae fuel

FeasibilityWhy Algae?•Algae can be used to make biofuel.

-- High growth rate and easy to grow• Once harvested, this oil can be converted into fuels for transportation,

aviation or heating

-- As Algae contain oil from 15% to 70% of its dry weight.

• Yield of Algae is quite high in comparison of other conventional crops grown for the same purpose.

• Produces large amounts oil

•Among all the fastest growing plants about 50% of their weight is oil.

Yield of Various Plant Oils(in liters per Hectare per Year)

• Contains no sulfur, no toxic, highly Biodegradable.

Algae

Palm

Coconut

Castor

Sunflower

Safflower

Soybeans

Corn

999995951

2290

1412

950

780

447227

Source: oilgae.com, 2008 Data

Oil Extraction Process

DATA COLLECTION Algae fuel

Biofuel from Algae

Algal Production

After Initial growth algae is deprived of nutrients to produce a greater oil yield.

The Process

Extraction

A press produces 70 to 75% of the oil

from the plant

Purification

Solvents are used to purify the oil from sugar and other impurities, solvent use to evaporates thereafter.

Utilization

This oil can be used as fuel directly in diesel engines or refined further for more sort hydrocarbons.

Biological Process

DATA COLLECTION Algae fuel

Source of Algae Energy“There is no magic-bullet fuel crop that can solve our energy woes without harming the environment, says virtually every scientist studying the issue. But most say that algae… comes closer than any other plant…”

National Geographic October, 2007From Macro to Micro

Microscopic Image Of Algae CellA closer look to algae sampleAlgae on a water body

Overview of Photosynthesis

Light Rxn

Dark RxnEthanol

Biological Process

DATA COLLECTION Algae fuelSource: http://www.veggievan.org/downloads/articles/Biodiesel%20from%20Algae.pdf

• Needs:-Sunlight-CO2-Nutrients

• Storage of Energy in:-Lipids and oils-Carbohydrates

Storing the Sun’s Energy and Soaking CO2

DATA COLLECTION Algal Production

How does algae grow?Sunlight

Algae cultivation

Nutrients Rich Water Carbon Dioxide

Many methods of Algae cultivation have been developed by considering thesefactors.

Methods

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Algae cultivation

Algal Production

• Algae grow much faster than food crops, and can produce hundreds of times more oil per unit area than conventional crops such as rapeseed, palms, soybeans, or jatropha.• Algae have a harvesting cycle of 1–10 days.• Their cultivation permits several harvests in a very short time-frame.

2. Closed-loop system

• Algal Production or Algae Cultivation methods in practice .

1. Open pond

3 Algal Turf Scrubber

4. Hybrid System

Methods

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Open Pond System

Algal Production

• Algae is cultivated in ponds which are exposed to open air.

• Mostly uses environmental carbon dioxide.

• The ponds can be in planned or unplanned, natural or artificial.

• Most efficient and low cost method where surface water bodies are available with plenty amount of water.

• Open sewage-ponds also used for the cultivation.

• Most popular method in open pond system is raceway pond.

Methods

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Open Pond System

Algal Production

Open Pond SystemRaceway pond.

•A raceway pond is a shallow artificial pond used in the cultivation of algae.• The pond is divided into a rectangular grid.• Each rectangle containing one channel in the shape of an oval, like an automotive raceway circuit.

• Each rectangle contains a paddle wheel to make the water flow continuously around the circuit.

Methods

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Open Pond System

Algal Production

Open Pond SystemRaceway pond.

A Complex Raceway Pond Mass Production of Algae

Methods

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Open Pond System

Algal Production

Open Pond System

Pros Cons

- Low Costs

- Easy to Operate and Maintain

- High Contamination Risk

- Lots of Water and Space

&

- Hardy and grow slower- Soaks Environmental CO2

Methods

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Closed-loop system

Algal Production

• Closed systems (not exposed to open air) .

• Avoid the problem of contamination by other organisms blown in by the air.

• Widespread mass-production of algae by using this method for biofuel production.

•Highly controlled production.

•Allows integration facility with other facilities like Combined Heat and Power (CHP) system.

• Most popular method in Closed-loop system is Photobioreactors.

Methods

DATA COLLECTION

Closed-loop system

Algal Production

Photobioreactors

• Made up of Plastic or borosilicate glass tubes that are exposed to sunlight.

•Is a bioreactor that utilizes a light source to cultivate phototrophic micro-organisms.

• Provides carefully controlled artificial environment and specific conditions to algae.

• Allows much higher growth rates and purity levels than anywhere in natural or habitats similar to nature.

• Biomass could be derived from nutrient-rich wastewater and flue gas carbon dioxide in a photobioreactor.

Methods

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Closed-loop system

Algal Production

Photobioreactors• Process of growing Algae in a Photobioreactors and algal Fuel Extraction.

Methods

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Closed-loop system

Algal Production

Photobioreactors

Tubular photobioreactors

Christmas tree photobioreactor

Plate photobioreactor

Horizontal photobioreactor

Foil photobioreactor

Types

Methods

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Closed-loop system

Algal Production

Pros Cons

- High level of control and Productivity.

- Needs less Water and Space

- High Costs

- Needs High maintenance and monitoring

&

- Soaks CO2 from Environmental as well as from Exhausts.

- No Contamination Risk- Extensive infrastructure

Methods

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Algal Turf Scrubber(ATS)

Algal Production

• The algal turf scrubber (ATS) is a system designed primarily for cleaning nutrients and pollutants out of water using algal turfs.

• Algal turf scrubber is imitation of algal turfs of a natural coral reef.

• For turf a rough plastic membrane coated surface or a screen is used, which allows naturally occurring algal spores to settle and colonize the surface.• Once the algae has been established, it can be harvested every 5–15 days.

• Instead of a single high species ,this method focuses on naturally occurring polycultures of algae.

Methods

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Algal Turf Scrubber(ATS)

Algal Production

• It is different from prior two methods (Open pond, Closed loop System) because in this method a solid turf is used to grow algae.

• It is documented higher productivity over open pond systems.•Elimination of contamination issues due to the reliance on naturally occurring algae species.

•Turf Scrubber can be:

•Horizontal

•Vertical

• SlantedFig: Turf Scrubber Screen

Methods

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Algal Turf Scrubber(ATS)

Algal Production

• Needs:-Sunlight-Non corrosive Turf Sheet-Nutrients rich Water etc.

Model of outdoor Algal Turf Scrubber

Methods

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Algal Turf Scrubber(ATS)

Algal Production

Pros Cons

- Very low operating and fuel production costs

- Low maintenance and monitoring

- Needs Sufficient Water and Space but less in comparison of Open pond

&

- Soaks CO2 from Environmental.

- Less Contamination Risk- Needs considerable infrastructure

- Higher productivity over open pond systems

Methods

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Hybrid System

Algal Production

• Hybrid Systems are the advanced cultivation systems.• These are basically need dependent combination of previous algal production Technologies to overcome the demerits.•Hybrid Systems reduce higher Capex and Opex involved with the Photo Bioreactors cultivation significantly improving economic viability.

Algae Bioreactor attached to smoke stack at power plant.

•These systems are capable of maintaining higher algal densities for maximized algal biomass production within less cultivation area.• These are called with different names depends on the combination and use of technology. E.g.

20x2.4 m3 “in-situ hybrid” microalgae cultivation pilot system(Image by Energy Microalgae Group)

Closed Pond SystemsPhoto Bioreactor and Turf Systems

Source: http://algaeindia.com/fdetails.php?title=Hybrid%20Cultivation%20Systems

Methods

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Hybrid System

Algal Production

• In Hybrid Systems an artificial environment is created to increase the yield and decrease the harvesting time of algal production.

Algae Bioreactor attached to smoke stack at power plant.

• For Example:Algae Photobioreactor used to attach to smoke stack for more CO2 supply.

• Major factors which use to control:

-Sunlight-CO2

-Nutrients

• Artificial lights are used to minimize the harvest time and to increase the production.

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Species

Yielding Species

Finding the Right Algae

• Over 40,000 species of algae have been identified, likely hundreds of thousands more to be discovered

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Species

Yielding Species

As of 2012 researchers across various locations worldwide have started investigating the following species for their suitability as a mass oil-producers:

This the list of some high yielding Algae species:•Ankistrodesmus TR-87: 28–40% oil of dry weight•Botryococcus braunii: 29–75% dw•Chlorella sp.: 29%dw•Chlorella protothecoides(autotrophic/ heterothrophic): 15–55% dw•Cyclotella DI- 35: 42%dw•Dunaliella tertiolecta : 36–42%dw•Hantzschia DI-160: 66%dw•Nannochloris: 31(6–63)%dw•Nannochloropsis : 46(31–68)%dw•Neochloris oleoabundans: 35–54%dw•Nitzschia TR-114: 28–50%dw•Scenedesmus TR-84: 45%dw•Schizochytrium 50–77%dw•Stichococcus: 33(9–59)%dw

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Current Researches

Current Researches

• At the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution the organically rich wastewater is being used to accelerate the growth of algae.

• The Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering at University of Georgia is exploring microalgal biomass production using industrial wastewater.

• Solazyme(South San Francisco, California) has produced a fuel suitable for powering jet aircraft from algae.

• In India Reliance industries in collaboration with Algenol, USA commissioned a pilot project to produce algal bio-oil.

• Pond Biofuels Inc. in Ontario, Canada has a functioning pilot plant where algae is grown directly off of smokestack emissions from a cement plant, and dried using waste heat.

• Ocean Nutrition Canada in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada has found a new strain of algae that appears capable of producing oil at a rate 60 times greater than other types of algae being used for the generation of biofuels.

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Future Predictions

Yielding Species

• It looks that in future there will be a boom in this field as conventional energy resources are limited and day by becoming more expensive.• From the study it can be predict that in future there will be:

Biofuel Vehicles “Green” Buildings

Emphasis on the use of Byproducts More Research & Development Further Private & Government Investment Clearer Regulatory & Statutory Guidelines for Algae

Businesses

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Conclusion

Conclusion

• Algae is easy to grow.

• Can produce a high yield of oil.

• Algae is a very efficient means of producing biofuel.

• The oil production from algae farms is feasible and

scalable.

• Further research necessary to unlock full potential of algae

• Help to solve dependence on fossil fuels.

• Can be better for the Earth.

Research Papers• Ben, A., Amotz , Large Scale Open Algae Ponds, The National Institute of Oceanography Nature Beta Technologies Ltd. Nikken Sohonsha Co, Japan Seambiotic Ltd. ISRAEL • Eleazer ,P. R. , Lisa, M. C. , Mark, A. White , Andres F. C., 2012, Comparison of algae cultivation methods for bioenergy production using a combined life cycle assessment and life cycle costing approach, Bioresource Technology 126 (2012) 298–306• Jorquera, O., Kiperstok, A., Sales, E.A., Embiruçu, M., Ghirardi, M.L., 2010.Comparative energy life-cycle analyses of microalgal biomass production inopen ponds and photobioreactors. Bioresource Technology 101, 1406–1413.

REFERENCES

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Websites:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algae_fuelwww.sciencedirect.comhttp://www.oilgae.com/http://inhabitat.com/algae-covered-buildings-to-boost-biofuel-production/http://inhabitat.com/power-your-car-with-algae-algae-biocrude-by-livefuels/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algae_scrubberhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algae_fuelhttp://www.algaeindustrymagazine.com/scalable-algae-microfarms-part-5/http://english.qibebt.cas.cn/ic/ji/jrlsab/201011/t20101103_60856.htmlhttp://www.dailyalternative.co.uk/could-micro-algae-free-america-from-foreign-wars-debt-and-environmental-destruction/