GREEN ALGAE

PROJECT
CAN THEY SAVE THE WORLD....?

GREEN ALGAE PROJECT

CONTENTS
Green Algae................................................
Micro and Macro Algae..............................
Green algae used for carbon sequestration
and bio fuel production.............................
Algae fuel....................................................
Oil Extraction...............................................
Sustainable post-treatment of municipal
wastewater with algae...............................
Cultivation of Micro Algae.........................
A feasibility study on the production of
microalgae..................................................

GREEN ALGAE PROJECT

GREEN ALGAE
"The classic "green algae" are mostly

microscopic freshwater forms and large seaweed.

Some species may be as large as 25 cm in width,
and attain a length of 8 meters like the sea lettuce
shown here. The green algae, and all other plant
groups, contain firm cell walls often composed of
complex compounds such as cellulose. Energy
from the sun in the form of light is captured by
the green algae, green plants and some bacteria
through photosynthesis. This process is the route
by which virtually all energy enters our
biosphere."

KNOWN SPECIES
At least 7,000

SIZE RANGE
Less than 25 micro meters to 8 meters

WHERE THEY LIVE

Mostly in fresh waters and marine environments; also in hot springs, on the surface of snow and tree
trunks, and in soil

ECOLOGICAL ROLES AND HUMAN USES

At the base of the food chain; Help to purify sewage, Store carbon, Humans use green algae as food,
as feed for animals, and in biological research

GREEN ALGAE PROJECT

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Micro and Macro Algaes

Two kinds of algae exist: macroalgae, also known as seaweed and microalgae. Microalgae
are very small plant-like organisms (+/- 1 to 50 m), which can be seen with the aid of a
microscope. Unlike higher plants, microalgae do not have roots, stems and leaves.
Microalgae, capable to perform photosynthesis, are important for life on earth; they produce
approximately half of the atmospheric oxygen and use simultaneously the greenhouse gas
carbon dioxide to grow photoautotrophically.
In addition, life in oceans, seas and lakes is dependent on microalgae, because these are at the
bottom end of the food chain.
Macroalgae are seaweed or kelp - aquatic plants that are cultivated either directly in the
sea, attached to solid structures like poles and rafts, or, in some cases, as small individual
plants, kept in suspension in agitated ponds. Macroalgae are produced for their content of
gelling substances: agar, alginates and carrageenans and for food: the annual global
production of seaweed is several million tons. Compared to other types of aquaculture, the
production of seaweed is only surpassed by freshwater fishes. Presently there is also interest
in seaweeds as a feedstock for production of biofuels.
In general, microalgae are cultured in photobioreactors while macroalgae are cultured in
natural environments. When we refer to algae on this website, we refer to microalgae.
The biodiversity of microalgae is enormous and they represent an almost untapped resource.
It has been estimated that about 200,000-800,000 species exist of which about 35,000 species
are described. Over 15,000 novel compounds originating from algal biomass have been
chemically determined (Cardozo et al. 2007). Most of these microalgae species produce
unique products like carotenoids, antioxidants, fatty acids, enzymes, polymers, peptides,
toxins and sterols.
The chemical composition of microalgae is not an intrinsic constant factor but varies over a
wide range, both depending on species and on cultivation conditions. It is possible to
accumulate the desired products in microalgae to a large extend by changing environmental
factors like temperature, illumination, pH, CO2 supply, salt and nutrients.

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Energy - Green algae used for carbon

sequestration and bio fuel production

Isaac Berzin, a rocket scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is

using algae to clean up power-plant exhaust, saving greenhouse gas emissions
and satisfying energy needs.
The idea occurred to him three years ago, although it is not exactly new . He
bolted onto the exhaust stacks of a 20 MW power plant rows of clear tubes with
green algae soup inside. The algae grew happily, gobbling up 40 percent of the
carbon dioxide for photosynthesis, and as a bonus, 86 percent of the nitrous
oxide as well, resulting in a much cleaner exhaust.
The algae is harvested daily and its oil extracted to make biodiesel for transport
use, leaving a green dry flake that can be further processed to ethanol, also a
transport fuel .
GreenFuel, the company set up by Berzin in Cambridge Mass., has already
attracted 11 million in venture capital funding and is conducting a field trial at
1 000 MW plant owned by a major southwestern power company. GreenFuel
expects two to seven more such demo projects, scaling up to a full production
system by 2009.
One key to success is to select an alga with a high oil density about 50 percent
by weight. Algae are prolific and can produce 15 000 gallons of biodiesel per
acre, compared to just 60 gallons from soybean. Berzin estimates that a 1 000
MW power plant using his system could produce more than 40 million gallons
of biodiesel and 50 million gallons of ethanol a year. But that would require a 2
000 acre farm near the power plant.
Greenfuel is not alone in racing to make oil out of algae. Greenshift
Corporation, an incubator company based in Mount Arlington New Jersey,
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licensed a CO2-scrubbing screen-like filter developed by David Bayless,

researcher at Ohio University. A prototype is capable of handling 140 cubic
metres of flue gas per minute, an amount equivalent to the exhaust from 50 cars
or a 3-megawatt power plant.
The US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) had a research project
from1978 to1996 on creating renewable transportation fuel with algae making
use of waste CO2 from

Coal fired power plants. The project, led by NREL scientist John Sheehan, was
funded at $25.05 m over the 20-year period, compared to the total spending
under the Biofuels Program over the same period of $459 m. It resulted in a
collection of 300 species of green algae and diatoms, now housed in the
University of Hawaii and still available to researchers. Although some technical
and economic problems remained to be solved, it was estimated that just 15 000
square miles (or 3.8 m ha) of desert (the Sonoran desert in California and
Arizona is more than 8 times that size) could grow enough algae to replace
nearly all of the nations current diesel requirements, and algae use far less
water than traditional oilseed crops.
Researchers also suggested using algae to clean up Salton Sea in Southern
California ,into which more than 10 000 tons of nitrogen and phosphate
fertilizers are discharged annually. The idea was to use some 1 000 ha of pond
system to grow algae such as Spirulina with the sea water, harvest the algae
biomass and convert that into fuels, while the residual sludge could be recycled
to agriculture for its fertilizer value. An estimate suggests that such a process
could mitigate several hundred thousand tons of CO2 emissions at below
$10/ton CO2 equivalent.
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GREEN ALGAE PROJECT

Algae fuel
Algae fuel, also called algal fuel, algaeoleum or second-generation bio fuel, is a bio fuel
which is derived from algae. During photosynthesis, algae and other photosynthetic
organisms capture carbon dioxide and sunlight and convert it into oxygen and biomass. Up to
99% of the carbon dioxide in solution can be converted, which was shown by Weissman and
Tillett (1992) in large-scale open-pond systems. As of 2008, such fuels remain too expensive
to replace other commercially available fuels, with the cost of various algae species typically
between US$510 per kilogram. But several companies and government agencies are funding
efforts to reduce capital and operating costs and make algae oil production commercially
viable. The production of bio fuels from algae does not reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide
(CO2), because any CO2 taken out of the atmosphere by the algae is returned when the bio
fuels are burned. They do however eliminate the introduction of new CO2by displacing fossil
hydrocarbon fuels.
High oil prices, competing demands between foods and other bio fuel sources, and the world
food crisis have ignited interest in algaculture (farming algae) for making vegetable oil
biodiesel, bio ethanol, bio gasoline, bio methanol, biobutanol and other bio fuel, using land
that is not suitable for agriculture. Among algal fuels' attractive characteristics: they do not
affect fresh water resources, can be produced using ocean and wastewater, and are
biodegradable and relatively harmless to the environment if spilled. Algae cost more per unit
mass yet can yield over 30 times more energy per unit area than other, second-generation bio
fuel crops. One bio fuels company has claimed that algae can produce more oil in an area the
size of a two car garage than a football field of soybeans, because almost the entire algal
organism can use sunlight to produce lipids, or oil. The United States Department of Energy
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estimates that if algae fuel replaced all the petroleum fuel in the United States, it would
require 15,000 square miles (40,000 km2). This is less than 17 the area of corn harvested in
the United States in 2000.

Different fuels produced from algae:

Biodiesel
Currently most research into efficient algal-oil production is being done in the private sector,
but predictions from small scale production experiments bear out that using algae to produce
biodiesel may be the only viable method by which to produce enough automotive fuel to
replace current world diesel usage.
Microalgae have much faster growth rates than terrestrial crops. The per unit area yield of oil
from algae is estimated to be from between 5,000 to 20,000 US gallons per acre per year
(4,700 to 18,000 m3/km2a) this is 7 to 30 times greater than the next best crop, Chinese
tallow (700 US gal/acrea or 650 m3/km2a)
Studies show that algae can produce up to 60% of their biomass in the form of oil. Because
the cells grow in aqueous suspension where they have more efficient access to water, CO2
and dissolved nutrients, microalgae are capable of producing large amounts of biomass and
usable oil in either high rate algal ponds or photo bioreactors. This oil can then be turned into
biodiesel which could be sold for use in automobiles. The more efficient this process
becomes the larger the profit that is turned by the company. Regional production of
microalgae and processing into bio fuels will provide economic benefits to rural
communities.

Biobutanol
Butanol can be made from algae or diatoms using only a solar powered bio refinery. This fuel
has an energy density 10% less than gasoline, and greater than that of either ethanol or
methanol. In most gasoline engines, butanol can be used in place of gasoline with no
modifications. In several tests, butanol consumption is similar to that of gasoline, and when
blended with gasoline, provides better performance and corrosion resistance than that of
ethanol or E85.
The green waste left over from the algae oil extraction can be used to produce butanol.

Biogasoline
Biogasoline is gasoline produced from biomass such as algae. Like traditionally produced
gasoline, it contains between 6 (hexane) and 12 (dodecane) carbon atoms per molecule and
can be used in internal-combustion engines.

Methane
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Through the use of algaculture grown organisms and cultures, various polymeric materials
can be broken down into methane.[15]

SVO
The algal-oil feedstock that is used to produce biodiesel can also be used for fuel directly as
"Straight Vegetable Oil", (SVO). The benefit of using the oil in this manner is that it doesn't
require the additional energy needed for transesterification, (processing the oil with an
alcohol and a catalyst to produce biodiesel). The drawback is that it does require
modifications to a normal diesel engine. Transesterified biodiesel can be run in an
unmodified modern diesel engine, provided the engine is designed to use ultra-low sulfur
diesel, which, as of 2006, is the new diesel fuel standard in the United States.

From: Wikipedia

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Oil Extraction
Algae oils have a variety of commercial and industrial uses, and are extracted through a wide
variety of methods. Estimates of the cost to extract oil from microalgae vary, but are likely to
be around $1.80 (US$)/kg (compared to $0.50 (US$)/kg for palm oil).

Physical extraction
In the first step of extraction, the oil must be separated from the rest of the algae. The
simplest method is mechanical crushing. When algae are dried it retains its oil content, which
then can be "pressed" out with an oil press. Many commercial manufacturers of vegetable oil
use a combination of mechanical pressing and chemical solvents in extracting oil. Since
different strains of algae vary widely in their physical attributes, various press configurations
(screw, expeller, piston, etc.) work better for specific algae types. Often, mechanical crushing
is used in conjunction with chemical solvents, as described below.
Osmotic shock is a sudden reduction in osmotic pressure, this can cause cells in a solution to
rupture. Osmotic shock is sometimes used to release cellular components, such as oil.
Ultrasonic extraction, a branch of sonochemistry, can greatly accelerate extraction processes.
Using an ultrasonic reactor, ultrasonic waves are used to create cavitation bubbles in a
solvent material. When these bubbles collapse near the cell walls, the resulting shock waves
and liquid jets cause those cells walls to break and release their contents into a
solvent.Ultrasonication can enhance basic enzymatic extraction. The combination
"sonoenzymatic treatment" accelerates extraction and increases yields.

Chemical extraction
Chemical solvents are often used in the extraction of the oils. The downsides to using
solvents for oil extraction are the dangers involved in working with the chemicals. Care must
be taken to avoid exposure to vapours and skin contact, either of which can cause serious
health damage. Chemical solvents also present an explosion hazard.
A common choice of chemical solvent is hexane, which is widely used in the food industry
and is relatively inexpensive. Benzene and ether can also separate oil. Benzene is classified as
a carcinogen.
Another method of chemical solvent extraction is Soxhlet extraction. In this method, oils
from the algae are extracted through repeated washing, or percolation, with an organic
solvent such as hexane or petroleum ether, under reflux in a special glassware. The value of
this technique is that the solvent is reused for each cycle.

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Enzymatic extraction uses enzymes to degrade the cell walls with water acting as the solvent.
This makes fractionation of the oil much easier. The costs of this extraction process are
estimated to be much greater than hexane extraction. The enzymatic extraction can be
supported by ultrasonication. The combination "sonoenzymatic treatment" causes faster
extraction and higher oil yields.
Supercritical CO2 can also be used as a solvent. In this method, CO2 is liquefied under
pressure and heated to the point that it becomes supercritical (having properties of both a
liquid and a gas), allowing it to act as a solvent.
Other methods are still being developed, including ones to extract specific types of oils, such
as those with a high production of long-chain highly unsaturated fatty acids

FROM: WIKIPEDIA

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Sustainable post-treatment of municipal

wastewater with algae
Motivation
As part of the European Water Framework Directive the effluent demands of, among others,
nitrogen and phosphorus will become stricter in the near future.
N 10
mg/L
current
2.2
mg/L
new
P 2
mg/L
current
0.15 mg/L
new
Table 1. Current and future effluent demand for nitrogen and phosphorus
As a result of this development, post-treatment will be needed in the wastewater treatment
plants. A system using algae forms a good post-treatment system. Algae take up nitrogen and
phosphorus to assimilate into biomass, using readily available CO2 and sunlight as carbon
source and energy source.
Algal biofilms offer several advantages over
suspended systems as:
- biomass is easier to harvest
- no suspended matter in effluent
- low energy requirement (no mixing)
- vertical placement is possible (giving
higher photosynthetic efficiency due to light
dilution)
Technological challenge
The goal of this project is to develop an algal
photo-biofilm system for the post-treatment
of municipal wastewater. This reactor is
primarily aimed to remove residual nitrogen
and phosphorus in wastewater.
The challenge is to develop a process with
high nitrogen and phosphorus removal during
both day and night. And in addition to
minimize the land requirement for this
biosolar process by obtaining a high
photosynthetic efficiency.
Secondly, the symbiotic relationship between algae and bacteria in a biofilm can be used. In
this scenario algae and bacteria provide each other with O2 and CO2, while cleaning the
effluent.

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Cultivation of Micro Algae

Introduction
In commercial algae
production harvesting is
generally done by
centrifugation. However, the
costs and energy demands for
harvesting the algal biomass
by these methods are high. In
the technical and economical
analysis on microalgae for
biofuels it was shown that the
investment costs for the
centrifuges contributed up to
34% of the total investment
on equipment. The study also
showed that the centrifuge
used 48.8% of the total energy
consumption.

Flocculation, Global Poly-Glu Co., Ltd copyright

In a feasibility study, it was found that the total costs for concentrating the microalgae from
0.3 g/L to 100 g/L (10% dry matter) can be reduced from 2.72 Euro/kg (for centrifugation) to
about 0.7 Euro/kg when the algae are pre-concentrated to 5% dry matter. This can be
achieved by flocculation combined with flotation or sedimentation prior to further
concentration by centrifugation or filtration. In addition the energy demand decreased from
4.76 kWh/kg to 0.4-0.6 kWh/kg.
Flocculation can be achieved in different ways (induced flocculation, auto- and
bioflocculation or electroflocculation), but in general flocculation of the algal biomass is still
poorly understood. The optimal conditions of the algae and the culture medium needed for
effective flocculation are often unpredictable, which makes it difficult to find ways to control
the harvesting process. In addition, after harvesting oil needs to be extracted from the
biomass and often the cell wall is a big barrier to facilitate extraction and the thickness of the
cell wall is affected by the conditions of the cells at the time of harvesting.

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A feasibility study on the production of

microalgae
For Delta, an energy companies in the Netherlands, we performed a feasibility
study on the production of microalgae, in which 3 production technologies were
compared: open pond , horizontal tubular photobioreactor and a flat panel
photobioreactor.
The analysis was based on state-of-the-art technology for the solar conditions in
the Netherlands. Estimations were conservative, which means that for reaching
estimated productivities there is no need to develop systems or processes further
than what is now possible. In this analysis we also assumed that nutrients for the
growth medium and CO2 had to be bought. The end product of the process we
designed is an algal paste with a dry matter content of 20%. Extraction of oil
and esterification was not considered.
Two different plant sizes were evaluated (1 and 100 ha). We report here the
values estimated for a scale of 100 ha. Microalgae biomass can be produced
cheaper in photobioreactors than in raceway ponds, but this is achieved at the
expense of higher energy consumption. When comparing the two
photobioreactors, the horizontal tubular reactor and flat panel show a similar
biomass production cost. Regarding energy balance, flat panels perform a bit
better, even though both systems have a negative balance.
There is no practical experience with cultivation of microalgae for energy
purposes. Photobioreactors have only been applied for the production of
biomass of high value, i.e. more than 100 /kg DW. As a consequence,
processes have never been optimized for applications where the value of
biomass is less than 1 /kg DW. Process development for the production of
microalgae for energy purposes still needs to be done. In order to analyze the
effect of some parameters on biomass / energy costs a sensitivity analysis was
made. In this way we could determine whether and how costs could be
realistically reduced. With the present status of the technology, production costs
were calculated at 4.02 /kg biomass (153.5 / GJ) but could become as low as
0.42 /kg biomass (16.0 / GJ).
Development of the technology combined with the usage of the remaining
biomass components, which are not required for biofuel production, in other
applications (a biorefinery approach in which 100% biomass is valorized) the
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commercial production of microalgae could become a realistic option for the

biofuel market.
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