Algae as a Biomass Resource

Algae, like corn, soybeans, sugar cane, wood, and other plants, use photosynthesis to convert
solar energy into chemical energy. They store this energy in the form of oils, carbohydrates, and
proteins. The plant oil can be converted to
biodiesel, which is why biodiesel is a form of
solar energy. The more efficient a particular
plant is at converting that solar energy into
chemical energy, the better it is from a
biodiesel perspective, and algae are among
the most photosynthetically efficient plants on
earth.

Algae Biofuel

Algae fuel, algal biofuel, or algal oil is an

alternative to liquid fossil fuels that uses algae as its source of energy-rich oils. Also, algae fuels
are an alternative to commonly known biofuel sources, such as corn and sugarcane. Several
companies and government agencies are funding efforts to reduce capital and operating costs and
make algae fuel production commercially viable. Like fossil fuel, algae fuel releases CO2 when
burnt, but unlike fossil fuel, algae fuel and other biofuels only release CO2 recently removed
from the atmosphere via photosynthesis as the algae or plant grew. The energy crisis and the
world food crisis have ignited interest in algaculture (farming algae) for making biodiesel and
other biofuels using land unsuitable for agriculture. Among algal fuels' attractive characteristics
are that they can be grown with minimal impact on fresh water resources, can be produced using
saline and wastewater, have a high flash point, and are biodegradable and relatively harmless to
the environment if spilled.

The annual productivity and oil content of algae is far greater than seed crops. Soybean can only
produce about 450 l of oil per hectare. Canola can produce 1200 l per hectare, and palm can
produce 6000 l. Algae, on the other hand, can yield 90,000 l per hectare. Microalgae contain
lipids and fatty acids as membrane components, storage products, metabolites and sources of
energy. Algae contain anywhere between 2% and 40% of lipids/oils by weight. Algae can grow
anywhere there is enough sunshine and some can grow in saline water. All algae contain
proteins, carbohydrates, lipids and nucleic acids in varying proportions. Microalgae can complete
an entire growth cycle every few days. Although the percentages may vary, there are types of
algae that are comprised up to 40% of their overall fatty acids. The culture of algae can yield 30-
50% oil. Oil supply is based on claims that 47,000-308,000 l/hectare/year of oil could be
produced using algae.
Highest-yielding algae

The algae used in biodiesel production are usually aquatic unicellular green algae
(Chlorophyceae). This type of algae is a photosynthetic eukaryote characterized by high growth
rates and high population densities. Under good conditions, green algae can double its biomass in
less than 24 hours. Green algae can also have high lipid contents, usually over 50%. This high
yield is ideal for intensive agriculture and can be an excellent source for biodiesel production.

Chlorella
Chlorella is a single-celled green algae belonging to the
class of Chlorophyceae. It is a primary algae because it
grows autotrophically. It is spherical in shape, about 2
to 10 m in diameter, and does not have flagella.
Chlorella has green photosynthetic pigments,
chlorophyll-a and chlorophyll-b, in its chloroplast.
Using photosynthesis, it multiplies rapidly requiring
only carbon dioxide, water, sunlight, and a small
amount of minerals to reproduce. Chlorella is believed
to be capable in serving as a potential food and energy source because of its photosynthetic
efficiency to reach 8% comparable to other highly efficient crops such as sugar cane.

For heterotrophic microalgae, outside carbon sources offer a large amount chemical energy,
which the cells often store as lipid droplets. Heterotrophically cultivated Chlorella
protothecoides has been shown to accumulate as much as 55% of its dry weight as oil, compared
to only 14% in cells grown photoautotrohpically.

Dunaliella
Dunaliella is a unicellular green algae also belonging
to the class of Chlorophyceae. It too is a primary algae.
It is rod to oval shaped and about 9 to 11 m in
diameter. The organisms are simple to cultivate and do
not clump or form chains.

The properties of various fatty esters determine the

overall fuel properties of the biodiesel fuel. There is no
one strain or species of algae that can be said to be the
best in terms of oil yield for biodiesel. But, diatoms
along with green algae are the most
promising. Scenedesmus dimorphus is a unicellular algae in the class Chlorophyceae (green
algae). While this is one preferred species for oil yield for biodiesel, one of the problems
with Scenedesmus is that it is heavy, and forms thick sediments if not kept in constant
agitation. Dunaliella tertiolecta is a marine green flagellate with a size of 10 to 12 m in
diameter. This strain is said to have an oil yield of about 37%. D. tertiolecta is a fast growing
strain, therefore allowing it to have a high carbon dioxide rate.

Production and Agronomic Information

Phototrophic microalgae require light, carbon dioxide, water, and inorganic salts to grow. The
culture temperature should be between 15 and 30C (~60-80F) for optimal growth. The growth
medium must contribute the inorganic elements that help make up the algal cell, such as
nitrogen, phosphorus, iron, and sometimes silicon. For large-scale production of microalgae,
algal cells are continuously mixed to prevent the algal biomass from settling and nutrients are
provided during daylight hours when the algae are reproducing. However, up to one-quarter of
algal biomass produced during the day can be lost through respiration during the night.
A variety of photoautotrophic-based microalgal culture systems are available. For example, the
algae can be grown in suspension or attached on solid surface. Each system has its own
advantages and disadvantages. Currently, the suspension-based open ponds and enclosed
photobioreactors are commonly used for algal biofuel production. In general, an open pond is
simply a series of raceways outside, while a photobioreactor is a sophisticated reactor design
which can be placed indoors in a greenhouse, or outdoors. The details of the two systems are
described below.
Open ponds: Open ponds are the oldest and
simplest systems for mass cultivation of
microalgae. In this system, the shallow pond is
usually about 1 foot deep; algae are cultured under
conditions identical to their natural environment.
The pond is designed in a raceway configuration,
in which a paddlewheel provides circulation and
mixing of the algal cells and nutrients. The
raceways are typically made from poured concrete,
or they are simply dug into the earth and lined with
plastic to prevent the ground from soaking up the
liquid. Baffles in the channel guide the flow around bends in order to minimize space. The fresh
feed containing nutrients including nitrogen phosphorus and inorganic salts is added in front of
the paddle wheel. Algal broth is harvested behind the paddle wheel after it has circulated through
the loop. Depending on the nutrients required by algal species, a variety of wastewater sources
can be used for the algal culture, such as dairy/swine lagoon effluent and municipal wastewater.
For some marine types of microalgae, seawater or water with high salinity can be used.
Although open ponds cost less to build and operate than enclosed photobioreactors, this culture
system has its intrinsic disadvantages. Since these are open-air systems, they often experience a
lot of water loss due to evaporation. Thus, microalgae growing in an open pond do not uptake
carbon dioxide efficiently, and algal biomass production is limited. Biomass productivity is also
limited by contamination with unwanted algal species as well as other organisms from feed. In
addition, optimal culture conditions are difficult to maintain in open ponds, and recovering the
biomass from such a dilute culture is expensive.

Enclosed photobioreactors:
Enclosed photobioreactors have been employed to
overcome the contamination and evaporation
problems encountered in open ponds. These
systems are made of transparent materials and
generally placed outdoors for illumination by
natural light. The cultivation vessels have a large
surface area-to-volume ratio.
The most widely used photobioreactor is a tubular
design, which has a number of clear transparent
tubes, usually aligned with the sun rays. The tubes
are generally less than 10 centimeters in diameter to maximize sunlight penetration. The medium
broth is circulated through a pump to the tubes, where it is exposed to light for photosynthesis,
and then back to a reservoir. The algal biomass is prevented from settling by maintaining a
highly turbulent flow within the reactor, using either a mechanical pump or an airlift pump. A
portion of the algae is usually harvested after the solar collection tubes. In this way, continuous
algal culture is possible.
The photosynthesis process generates oxygen. In an open-raceway system, this is not a problem
as the oxygen is simply returned to the atmosphere. However, in the closed photobioreactor, the
oxygen levels will build up until they inhibit and poison the algae. The culture must periodically
be returned to a degassing zone, an area where the algal broth is bubbled with air to remove the
excess oxygen. Also, the algae use carbon dioxide, which can cause carbon starvation and an
increase in pH. Therefore, carbon dioxide must be fed into the system in order to successfully
cultivate the microalgae on a large scale. Photobioreactors may require cooling during daylight
hours, and the temperature must be regulated at night hours as well. This may be done through
heat exchangers, located either in the tubes themselves or in the degassing column.
The advantages of the enclosed photobioreactors are obvious. They can overcome the problems
of contamination and evaporation encountered in open ponds. The biomass productivity of
photobioreactors can be 13 times greater than that of a traditional raceway pond, on average.
Harvesting of biomass from photobioreactors is less expensive than that from a raceway pond,
since the typical algal biomass is about 30 times as concentrated as the biomass found in
raceways. However, enclosed photobioreactors also have some disadvantages. Light limitation
cannot be entirely overcome since light penetration is inversely proportional to the cell
concentration. Attachment of cells to the tube walls may also prevent light penetration. Although
enclosed systems can enhance the biomass concentration, the growth of microalgae is still
suboptimal due to variations in temperature and light intensity.
Harvesting
After growing in open ponds or photobioreactors, the microalgae biomass needs to be harvested
for further processing. The commonly used harvest method is through gravity settlement, or
centrifuge. The oil from the biomass will be removed through solvent extraction and further
processed into biodiesel.
Economics of algae cultivation
Overall capital and operating cost of algae cultivation systems is another critical issue. Prior
economic engineering feasibility analyses have concluded that even the simplest open pond
systems, including harvesting and algal biomass processing equipment, would cost at least
$100,000 per hectare, and possibly significantly more. To this would need to be added operating
costs. As of today, it can be rightly argued that current commercial algae production is very
small scale and inefficient, and that the economies of scale possible for biofuel production as
well as foreseeable advances in technology, could reasonably overcome this gap. R&D activities
will be required to demonstrate that it is actually possible to mass culture algae for maximal oil
productivity and harvest them cheaply, which would reduce the cost of such algal biomass
production to an acceptable level