Comparison of four outdoor pilot-scale photobioreactors

<p>Background: Microalgae are a potential source of sustainable commodities of fuels, chemicals and food and feed additives. The current high production costs, as a result of the low areal productivities, limit the application of microalgae in industry. A first step is determining how the different production system designs relate to each other under identical climate conditions. The productivity and photosynthetic efficiency of Nannochloropsis sp. CCAP 211/78 cultivated in four different outdoor continuously operated pilot-scale photobioreactors under the same climatological conditions were compared. The optimal dilution rate was determined for each photobioreactor by operation of the different photobioreactors at different dilution rates. Results: In vertical photobioreactors, higher areal productivities and photosynthetic efficiencies, 19-24 g m^-2 day^-1 and 2.4-4.2 %, respectively, were found in comparison to the horizontal systems; 12-15 g m^-2 day^-1 and 1.5-1.8 %. The higher ground areal productivity in the vertical systems could be explained by light dilution in combination with a higher light capture. In the raceway pond low productivities were obtained, due to the long optical path in this system. Areal productivities in all systems increased with increasing photon flux densities up to a photon flux density of 30 mol m^-2 day^-1. Photosynthetic efficiencies remained constant in all systems with increasing photon flux densities. The highest photosynthetic efficiencies obtained were; 4.2 % for the vertical tubular photobioreactor, 3.8 % for the flat panel reactor, 1.8 % for the horizontal tubular reactor, and 1.5 % for the open raceway pond. Conclusions: Vertical photobioreactors resulted in higher areal productivities than horizontal photobioreactors because of the lower incident photon flux densities on the reactor surface. The flat panel photobioreactor resulted, among the vertical photobioreactors studied, in the highest average photosynthetic efficiency, areal and volumetric productivities due to the short optical path. Photobioreactor light interception should be further optimized to maximize ground areal productivity and photosynthetic efficiency.</p

Batch and semi-continuous microalgal TAG production in lab-scale and outdoor photobioreactors

Paid Open Acces

Harvesting of microalgae by bio-flocculation

The high-energy input for harvesting biomass makes current commercial microalgal biodiesel production economically unfeasible. A novel harvesting method is presented as a cost and energy efficient alternative: the bio-flocculation by using one flocculating microalga to concentrate the non-flocculating microalga of interest. Three flocculating microalgae, tested for harvesting of microalgae from different habitats, improved the sedimentation rate of the accompanying microalga and increased the recovery of biomass. The advantages of this method are that no addition of chemical flocculants is required and that similar cultivation conditions can be used for the flocculating microalgae as for the microalgae of interest that accumulate lipids. This method is as easy and effective as chemical flocculation which is applied at industrial scale, however in contrast it is sustainable and cost-effective as no costs are involved for pre-treatment of the biomass for oil extraction and for pre-treatment of the medium before it can be re-used

Ultrasound, a new separation technique to harvest microalgae

Abstract In this article it is proven that ultrasound can be used to harvest microalgae. The separation process is based on gentle acoustically induced aggregation followed by enhanced sedimentation. In this paper, the efficiency of harvesting and the concentration factor of the ingoing biomass concentration are optimized and the relevance of this process compared to other harvesting processes is determined. For the optimisation, five parameters were modeled simultaneously by the use of an experimental design. An experimental design was chosen, because of possible interaction effects between the different parameters. The efficiency of the process was modeled with a R-squared of 0.88. The ingoing flow rate and the biomass concentration had a lot of influence on the efficiency of the process. Efficiencies higher than 90% were reached at high biomass concentrations and flow rates of 4-6 L day −1 . At most, 92% of the organisms could be harvested and a concentration factor of 11 could be achieved at these settings. It was not possible to harvest this microalga with higher efficiencies due to its small size and its small density difference with water. The concentration factor of the process was modeled with a R-squared of 0.75. The ingoing flow rate, biomass concentration and ratio between harvest flow and ingoing flow rate had a significant effect on the concentration factor. Highest concentration factors, up to 20, could be reached at low biomass concentrations and low harvest flows. On industrial scale, centrifuges can better be used to harvest microalgae, because of lower power consumption, better efficiencies and higher concentration factors. On lab-or pilot-plant scale, an ultrasonic harvesting process has the advantages that it can be operated continuously, it evokes no shear stress and the occupation space is very small. Also, when the algae excrete a soluble high valued product this system can be used as a biofilter

Towards microalgal triglycerides in the commodity markets

Background: Microalgal triglycerides (TAGs) hold great promise as sustainable feedstock for commodity industries. However, to determine research priorities and support business decisions, solid techno-economic studies are essential. Here, we present a techno-economic analysis of two-step TAG production (growth reactors are operated in continuous mode such that multiple batch-operated stress reactors are inoculated and harvested sequentially) for a 100-ha plant in southern Spain using vertically stacked tubular photobioreactors. The base case is established with outdoor pilot-scale data and based on current process technology. Results: For the base case, production costs of 6.7 € per kg of biomass containing 24% TAG (w/w) were found. Several scenarios with reduced production costs were then presented based on the latest biological and technological advances. For instance, much effort should focus on increasing the photosynthetic efficiency during the stress and growth phases, as this is the most influential parameter on production costs (30 and 14% cost reduction from base case). Next, biological and technological solutions should be implemented for a reduction in cooling requirements (10 and 4.5% cost reduction from base case when active cooling is avoided and cooling setpoint is increased, respectively). When implementing all the suggested improvements, production costs can be decreased to 3.3 € per kg of biomass containing 60% TAG (w/w) within the next 8 years. Conclusions: With our techno-economic analysis, we indicated a roadmap for a substantial cost reduction. However, microalgal TAGs are not yet cost efficient when compared to their present market value. Cost-competiveness strictly relies on the valorization of the whole biomass components and on cheaper PBR designs (e.g. plastic film flat panels). In particular, further research should focus on the development and commercialization of PBRs where active cooling is avoided and stable operating temperatures are maintained by the water basin in which the reactor is placed

Microalgal triacylglycerides production in outdoor batch-operated tubular PBRs

Background: Microalgal triacylglycerides (TAGs) are a promising sustainable feedstock for the biofuel, chemical and food industry. However, industrial production of microalgal products for commodity markets is not yet economically viable, largely because of low microalgal productivity. The latter is strictly dependent on initial-biomass-specific (IBS) light availability (i.e. ratio of light impinging on reactor ground area divided by initial biomass concentration per ground area). This study investigates the effect of IBS-light availability on batch TAG production for Nannochloropsis sp. cultivated in two outdoor tubular reactors (i.e. vertical and horizontal) at different initial biomass concentrations for the TAG accumulation phase, during two distinct seasons (i.e. high and low light conditions). Results: Increasing IBS-light availability led to both a higher IBS-TAG production rate and TAG content at the end of the batch, whereas biomass yield on light decreased. As a result, an optimum IBS-light availability was determined for the TAG productivity obtained at the end of the batch and several guidelines could be established. The vertical reactor (VR) should be operated at an initial biomass concentration of 1.5 g L-1 to achieve high TAG productivities (1.9 and 3.2 g m-2 day-1 under low and high light, respectively). Instead, the horizontal reactor (HR) should be operated at 2.5 g L-1 under high light (2.6 g m-2 day-1), and at 1.5 g L-1 under low light (1.4 g m-2 day-1). Conclusions: From this study, the great importance of IBS-light availability on TAG production can be deduced. Although maintaining high light availabilities in the reactor is key to reach high TAG contents at the end of the batch, considerable losses in TAG productivity were observed for the two reactors regardless of light condition, when not operated at optimal initial biomass concentrations (15-40% for VR and 30-60% for HR).</p

How to us Nile Red, a selective fluorescent stain for microalgal neutral lipids

The use of Nile Red for rapid monitoring of the neutral lipid content in microalgae has gained interest over the last decade, since neutral lipids are feedstock for renewable transportation fuel. In this review, we discuss the main considerations needed to make an NR protocol reliable for staining neutral lipids in microalgae. Cell wall permeability must be enhanced by using stain carriers: DMSO (5% v/v to 25% v/v), glycerol (0.1 to 0.125 mg/mL), or EDTA (3.0 to 3.8 mg/mL). Temperatures between 30 and 40 °C facilitate the diffusion of NR through the cell wall without incurring excess quenching. Good NR-lipid interaction requires using a low NR/cell ratio; the NR concentration must be between 0.25 μg/mL and 2.0 μg/mL, and the cell concentration > 5 × 104 cells/mL. In order to have the maximum and stable NR fluorescence, it is necessary to scan the excitation/emission wavelengths for up to a 40-min of incubation time. We outline a five-step method to customize the Nile Red protocol to a specific strain: 1) Evaluate the strain's suitability by checking for the presence of neutral lipid, 2) Select of the best excitation/emission wavelength, 3) Optimization of incubation time, stain carrier, dye concentration, and temperature, 4) Prepare single-strain algal cultures with different lipid contents to calibrate NR fluorescence with neutral-lipid content, and 5) Correlate NR fluorescence intensity to neutral lipid content for the same strain. Once the protocol is customized, the NR method allows for rapid and reliable monitoring of neutral lipid content of a microalgae strain.</p