Techno-economics of algae production in the Arabian Peninsula

The Arabian Peninsula's advantageous climate, availability of non-arable land, access to seawater and CO2-rich flue gas, make it an attractive location for microalgae biomass production. Despite these promising aspects, the region has seen very few studies into the commercial feasibility of algae-based value chains. This work aims to address this gap through a techno-economic feasibility study of algae biomass production costs, comparing different photobioreactor types, locations, and production scales. Flat panel and raceway pond cultivation systems were found to be the most economically attractive cultivation systems, with biomass production costs as low as 2.9 €·kg−1. Potential cost reductions of up to 42.5% and 25% could be accomplished with improvements in photosynthetic efficiencies and increased culture temperatures, respectively. As of such, efforts to source local thermo- and photo- tolerant strains could be the key to unlock the potential of the region for algae commercialization, linking into food, feed and nutraceutical industries.The authors would like to thank Tommaso de Santis, Probir Das, Mahmoud Taher, and the QDVC team for their support. This work was sponsored by QDVC and Qatar University [Project: QUEX-CAS-QDVC-14/15-7]. Open Access funding was provided by the Qatar National Library

Investigating algal CO2 capture through screening of Qatari desert microalgae & cyanobacteria strains

CO2 fixation by phototrophic microalgae has been addressed as a possible global carbon emissions reducer, whilst simultaneously producing useful products. Especially in Qatar, the prospect of using microalgae for CO2 abatement is promising: high solar irradiance, large areas of non-arable land, and large amounts of CO2 emissions make it seemingly the ideal place for algae cultivation. In order to promote high biomass productivities, and subsequent CO2 uptake rates, effective CO2 supply to the cultivation system is of high importance. However, the low solubility of CO2 in water, as well as the limiting tolerance of microalgae to increased CO2 concentrations, results in low efficiency of CO2 capture by microalgal production systems. In order to overcome these hurdles, this research focused on selecting local desert microalgae strains with high tolerance to increased CO2 levels, and developing growth media in order to increase the solubility of CO2. Forty-five locally isolated marine microalgae strains were screened for growth under increased CO2 concentrations, ranging from 0.04% to 30% (v/v). A number of different trends in CO2 tolerance could be identified from the results; a number of strains showed a clear inhibition of growth with CO2 concentrations of 5% and higher, whilst others showed increasing growth rates for increasing CO2 concentrations up to 30%. The trend in growth rate suggests that even higher CO2 concentration could be applied without growth-limiting effects, and could even stimulate higher growth-rates. In order to further increase the productivity of high CO2-tolerant strains, as well as to investigate the effects of pH on the CO2 tolerance of low-tolerant strains, various strains were cultivated in alkaline media and high CO2 concentrations. Besides leading to an increased solubility of CO2 in the culture media, increasing the pH is thought to balance the acidification effect of CO2 - possibly leading to higher CO2 tolerances. Overall, applying these strains and media adaptations for large-scale applications is expected to increase the CO2 transfer efficiency to the culture, resulting in decreased operational costs and higher overall productivities.qscienc

Вероятностно-временные характеристики и оптимизация ожидаемых доходов моделей информационных систем и сетей

В работе приведен обзор методов и методик исследования сетей массового обслуживания (МО) некоторых новых типов - различных марковских сетей с доходами (НМ-сетей) с дисциплинами обслуживания заявок FIFO в системах, сетей с ограниченным временем ожидания разнотипных заявок в них, обходами систем обслуживания заявками и сетей с положительными и отрицательными заявками (G-сетей), применяемых при нахождении вероятностно-временных характеристик и доходов в информационных системах и сетях (ИСС) и других объектах в переходном режиме

Producing algae in the Qatari desert: from strain to process

The Arabian Peninsula, due to its climate, availability of non-arable land, seawater, and carbon dioxide, is one of the best global locations for commercial cultivation of algae and cyanobacteria. This work focused on the screening of multiple locally isolated strains for their capability to thrive under industrially relevant conditions of elevated temperatures (up to 40 ˚C) and carbon dioxide levels (up to 30%). Two strains, Leptolyngbya sp. and Picochlorum sp., grew well at temperatures of up to 40 ˚C, and also showed a tolerance towards elevated CO2 concentrations. Both microalgae isolated, T. subcordiformis and Picochlorum sp., presented significant amounts of lipids, including high-value omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA. On the other hand, both cyanobacteria, Leptolyngbya sp. and Chroococcidiopsis sp., presented levels of phycobiliproteins. The isolates, all very diverse in response and products, showed promising characteristics, making them valuable strains for further investigation towards commercial applications and CO2 capture. One of the identified cyanobacteria was further investigated for its potential to produce phycocyanin, a nutraceutical with high commercial value, under desert climate conditions. Under elevated temperatures and light intensities, of up to 40 ˚C and 1800 µmol photons·m-2·s-1, Leptolyngbya sp. biomass productivity was up to 45% higher as compared A. platensis, the commercially most commonly produced strain for phycocyanin. High temperatures were found to improve both the biomass productivity and phycocyanin content, with maxima of 1.09±0.03 gX·L-1·d-1 and 72.12±3.52 mgPC·gX-1, respectively. Furthermore, various cell disruption methods and buffers were tested for the efficient extraction of high-purity phycocyanin. The best results were found through bead-beating in phosphate buffer, which showed the highest combined phycocyanin yield (169.9±3.6 mgPC·gX) and purity (7.37±0.16). The extract purities obtained for Leptolyngbya sp. are considerably higher than other reported phycocyanin purities. This, together with the strains capability to maintain relatively high biomass productivities compared to A. platensis, even under such high light intensities, make it a feasible candidate for high-value phycocyanin production in desert environments. The indoor to outdoor transition of the strain was also studied to further asses its potential as a commercially interesting strain for production in Qatar, with specific focus on the effect of high light intensities on the occurrence of photooxidation. Indoor, the strain was capable of growing at light intensities up to 5600 µmol photons·m-2·s-1, even at inoculation densities of as low as 0.1 g·L-1 (10%). Levels of chlorophyll and phycocyanin showed a significant decrease within the first 24 h, indicating some level of photooxidation, however, both were able to recover. Outdoor cultivation of the strain however showed a different response as compared to indoor experiments; within days of inoculation a loss of chlorophyll, phycocyanin, and culture turbidity was observed, irrespective of inoculum volume, suggesting that the strain had difficulties adapting to the outdoor environment. The culture did, however, recover, and clear morphological differences were observed, such as an increase in trichome length, as well as coiling of multiple trichomes to tightly packed strands. It was hypothesized that the morphological changes were induced by UV-radiation as an adaptation mechanism through increased self-shading. UV radiation however is generally not simulated under laboratory environments, causing a mismatch between indoor optimizations and outdoor realizations. Following the successful outdoor scale-up, a techno-economic analysis was applied to determine the biomass production costs for various cultivation systems and facility sizes. Different cultivation systems, production locations and facility scales were assessed in terms of their effect on biomass production costs. Flat panel and raceway pond cultivation systems had the lowest projected biomass production costs, at 3.0 and 2.9 €·kg-1, respectively, at 100 ha scale. Biomass production costs in tubular systems, both horizontal and vertically stacked, were up to 1.5 times more expensive. Locational differences in production costs throughout the region were minimal. In scaling up from 1 ha to 100 ha production facility, the largest reductions in production costs were made within the first 10 ha (67%), with further scale-up resulting in a mere 13% additional cost-savings. Finally, a sensitivity analysis indicated which improvements would have the largest impact on the overall costs of the process, as a recommendation for future research and development. Increased photosynthetic efficiencies and temperature optima had the largest impact on projected costs, which is why efforts to source local thermo- and photo- tolerant strains, such as Leptolyngbya sp., could be the key to unlock the potential of the region for algae commercialization

Controlling Unconventional Secretion for Production of Heterologous Proteins in Ustilago maydis through Transcriptional Regulation and Chemical Inhibition of the Kinase Don3

Heterologous protein production is a highly demanded biotechnological process. Secretion of the product to the culture broth is advantageous because it drastically reduces downstream processing costs. We exploit unconventional secretion for heterologous protein expression in the fungal model microorganism Ustilago maydis. Proteins of interest are fused to carrier chitinase Cts1 for export via the fragmentation zone of dividing yeast cells in a lock-type mechanism. The kinase Don3 is essential for functional assembly of the fragmentation zone and hence, for release of Cts1-fusion proteins. Here, we are first to develop regulatory systems for unconventional protein secretion using Don3 as a gatekeeper to control when export occurs. This enables uncoupling the accumulation of biomass and protein synthesis of a product of choice from its export. Regulation was successfully established at two different levels using transcriptional and post-translational induction strategies. As a proof-of-principle, we applied autoinduction based on transcriptional don3 regulation for the production and secretion of functional anti-Gfp nanobodies. The presented developments comprise tailored solutions for differentially prized products and thus constitute another important step towards a competitive protein production platform

Realizing algae value chains in arid environments : an Arabian Peninsula perspective

Algae are a promising feedstock for the sustainable production of feed, fuels, and chemicals. Especially in arid regions such as the Arabian Peninsula, algae could play a significant role in enhancing food security, economic diversification, and decarbonization. Within this context, the regional potential of algae commercialization is discussed, exploring opportunities and challenges across technical, societal, and political aspects. Climate, availability of process inputs, and funding opportunities are identified as essential strengths that increase the global competitiveness of regional algae production. Implementation challenges include climate change, securing human resources, and the vital transitioning from research to commercial scales. With balanced management, however, the region's efforts could be the push that is necessary for algal technologies to take off globally

Cryopreservation of microalgae from desert environments of Qatar

The Qatar University Culture Collection of Cyanobacteria and Microalgae (QUCCCM) is a unique resource containing a diverse collection of microalgae and cyanobacteria, isolated from the Qatar desert environment. In order to ensure maximum preservation of this resource, a number of cryopreservation techniques were applied to various strains, and the preservation effectiveness (cell viability and lipid productivity) was determined. The conditions tested were direct, passive, and freeze-cooling cryopreservation (technique), dimethyl sulfate and methanol (cryoprotectant), and 5 and 10% cryoprotectant concentrations over storage durations of up to 1 year. It was shown that the cryopreservation regime is strain dependent, and strains belonging to the same genera can have different requirements. On the other hand, neutral lipid estimation, via Nile red fluorescence determination of pre- and post-cryopreserved microalgae isolates, confirmed that the lipid production is affected by the applied cryopreservation method. Italian Society of Medical Radiology 2015.Scopu

Data for: Production of phycocyanin by Leptolyngbya sp. in desert environments

Experimental data for light and temperature experiments for biomass and phycocyanin production under turbidostat cultivation conditions for Leptolyngbya sp. QUCCCM 56 Statistical Analysis data files for phycocyanin extraction from A. platensis and Leptolyngbya sp. QUCCCM 5

Realizing algae value chains in arid environments: an Arabian Peninsula perspective

Algae are a promising feedstock for the sustainable production of feed, fuels, and chemicals. Especially in arid regions such as the Arabian Peninsula, algae could play a significant role in enhancing food security, economic diversification, and decarbonization. Within this context, the regional potential of algae commercialization is discussed, exploring opportunities and challenges across technical, societal, and political aspects. Climate, availability of process inputs, and funding opportunities are identified as essential strengths that increase the global competitiveness of regional algae production. Implementation challenges include climate change, securing human resources, and the vital transitioning from research to commercial scales. With balanced management, however, the region’s efforts could be the push that is necessary for algal technologies to take off globally.The authors would like to thank the Qatar University Center for Sustainable Development and all its members, the QDVC team, Bart Vermeer, and Gerhild Zauner for their support. This work was sponsored by QDVC and Qatar University (Project: QUEX-CAS-QDVC-14/15-7)

Techno-economics of algae production in the Arabian Peninsula

The Arabian Peninsula’s advantageous climate, availability of non-arable land, access to seawater and CO2-rich flue gas, make it an attractive location for microalgae biomass production. Despite these promising aspects, the region has seen very few studies into the commercial feasibility of algae-based value chains. This work aims to address this gap through a techno-economic feasibility study of algae biomass production costs, comparing different photobioreactor types, locations, and production scales. Flat panel and raceway pond cultivation systems were found to be the most economically attractive cultivation systems, with biomass production costs as low as 2.9 €·kg−1. Potential cost reductions of up to 42.5% and 25% could be accomplished with improvements in photosynthetic efficiencies and increased culture temperatures, respectively. As of such, efforts to source local thermo- and photo- tolerant strains could be the key to unlock the potential of the region for algae commercialization, linking into food, feed and nutraceutical industries