Browsing by Subject "Microalgae"

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    Aeration energy requirements for lipid production by Scenedesmus sp. in airlift bioreactors
    (Elsevier, 2014) Jones, S M J; Harrison, S T L  
    Microalgae have potential to yield various bioenergy products, including algal biodiesel. For algal energy production, the process energy input must be substantially lower than the product energy. Airlift photobioreactors provide controlled environments with good mixing and mass transfer; however, previous work reports a net energy ratio (NER; energy produced divided by energy consumed) less than 1. Here, the energy consumption in these reactors was improved by combined optimisation of superficial gas velocity and its CO2 concentration. Increasing CO2 concentration resulted in increased tolerance to lower superficial gas velocities, down to a critical minimum value. A 75% reduction in aeration power input was obtained by reducing superficial gas velocity from 0.0210 to 0.0052 m s− 1 at 5 400 ppm CO2, without substantial reduction in biomass concentration (2.27 to 1.93 g L− 1, respectively) or productivity (0.189 to 0.173 g L− 1 d− 1, respectively). The NER under these conditions was 5.47 for biomass plus lipid and 1.01 for lipid only. The CO2 supply rate, product of superficial gas velocity and CO2 concentration, correlated with the CO2 transfer rate which influenced algal productivity. The range of NERs measured across the superficial gas velocities studied indicates the ability to optimise algal cultivation in photobioreactors for the improved feasibility of algal bioenergy.
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    A critical evaluation of CO2 supplementation to algal systems by direct injection
    (Elsevier, 2012) Langley, N M; Harrison, S T L; van Hille, R P
    Microalgae are currently cultivated on a relatively small scale for nutritional products, supplements and aquaculture feed. In recent years there has been renewed interest in algal bioenergy, which would require cultivation at far greater scales. A key component of large-scale production systems is the delivery of CO2 to the algal cells, which is often a limiting factor in ponds and air sparged systems. Although many methods of CO2 supplementation to algal reactors have been investigated, the most commonly suggested method is still the direct injection of CO2 enriched gas into the growth medium. A sound understanding of CO2 gas–liquid mass transfer is critical to efficient operation of cultivation systems as mixing and gas compression may represent significant operational expenses. For carbon capture or sequestration through algal culture, CO2 recovery is equally important, particularly where carbon trading is involved. Chlorella vulgaris was grown in internal loop airlift reactors under varied CO2 partial pressures in the inlet gas. In these reactors, with an overall mass transfer coefficient of 0.0094 s−1, an inlet CO2 partial pressure of 0.0012 atm (1200 ppm CO2 by volume) was sufficient to overcome any mass transfer limitations. Under these operating conditions, a CO2 recovery of 26% resulted. Increasing the partial pressure of CO2 in the inlet gas above 0.0012 atm did not increase the algal productivity and caused significant decreases in CO2 recovery to 9.7% and 2.1% at inlet CO2 partial pressures of 0.00325 atm and 0.0145 atm respectively. Much research into algal growth is done without analysis of CO2 gas–liquid mass transfer, using influent CO2 partial pressures well in excess of the minimum value required to overcome CO2 gas–liquid mass transfer limitations, even in poorly mixed systems. This could result in algal growth being optimised under conditions that are not industrially practical or desirable.
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    Selection of direct transesterification as the preferred method for assay of fatty acid content of microalgae
    (Springer Verlag, 2010) Griffiths, M J; van Hille, R P; Harrison, S T L
    Assays for total lipid content in microalgae are usually based on the Folch or the Bligh and Dyer methods of solvent extraction followed by quantification either gravimetrically or by chromatography. Direct transesteri- fication (DT) is a method of converting saponifiable lipids in situ directly to fatty acid methyl esters which can be quantified by gas chromatography (GC). This eliminates the extraction step and results in a rapid, one-step procedure applicable to small samples. This study compared the effectiveness of DT in quantifying the total fatty acid content in three species of microalgae to extraction using the Folch, the Bligh and Dyer and the Smedes and Askland methods, followed by transesterification and GC. The use of two catalysts in sequence, as well as the effect of reaction water content on the efficiency of DT were investigated. The Folch method was the most effective of the extraction methods tested, but comparison with DT illustrated that all extraction methods were incomplete. Higher levels of fatty acid in the cells were obtained with DT in comparison with the extraction-transesterification methods. A combination of acidic and basic transesterifi- cation catalysts was more effective than each individually when the sample contained water. The two-catalyst reaction was insensitive to water up to 10% of total reaction volume. DT proved a convenient and more accurate method than the extraction techniques for quantifying total fatty acid content in microalgae.