Oil from Algae?

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Oil from Algae?

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Written by golda

Thursday, 16 July 2009 20:41

This month we had a chance to interview Vikram M. Pattarkine, PhD, OriginOil’s chief technology officer, on the subject of oil from algae.

OriginOil works on getting algae to generate oil, in an industrial process using what they call a Helix BioReactor. Here's a link to the OriginOil explanation page: http://www.originoil.com/OriginOil_IREO_20090611.pdf

We asked Vikram some detailed questions on just how these algae work.

bGS: I'd like to focus especially on the fundamental question of where the energy comes from - with a small footprint, is the light still coming from solar sources, or what is the light source?

V.P.: There are two major scenarios for where we can get the energy for algae production: industrial waste energy, and indirect energy from renewable sources.

bGS: What is the energy source of the light being used to grow the algae?

V.P.: Waste Energy: specific industrial applications can supply most or all of the four essential ingredients for algae cultivation: CO2, water, nutrients and energy. In the best case, all of these come from waste sources. For example, in the case of a factory that uses natural gas for its processes, you have lots of CO2, plenty of process water, and typically, lots of excess heat which can be converted into energy through a Combined Heat and Power cogeneration process, to run the lights, pumps, etc. The algae can be digested to produce biogas for immediate use by the factory, making an ideal closed-loop application. Wastewater treatment plants are even better, as they have all four elements including the nutrients. We are presently focusing on these industrial applications.

Renewable Energy: Algae can also be grown outside industrial settings by investing in solar and wind farms. Unfortunately, this requires capital expenditure. The energy requirement can be alleviated by turning the algae biomass into fuel to help run the algae plant. Algae biomass, however, cannot provide all of the energy the system needs and additional free or waste energy will be required.

We are focusing on the industrial applications because of the availability of energy and nutrients and because these polluters have an interest in reducing their CO2 output and cleaning up their process water. That makes for natural and mutually profitable partnerships.

bGS: Most species of Nannochloropsis are salt water species, which makes it much harder to grow as salt water tanks are harder to maintain than freshwater. How does OriginOil address that?

V.P.: While salt water may be more trouble to work with, it does have greater resistance to bacterial attacks. We are not focused on specific strains; we only use Nannochloropsis spp. because they are well documented. We are focused on being the electromechanical platform for algae production, and we will work with operators who will want to use different strains for their needs; for example, a high-carbohydrate strain for ethanol production.

bGS: The only freshwater species we could find is a cold-water species, and needs to be kept at around 0 degrees to grow well, which would make it hard to grow indoors. Is this the species being used? Can you describe which one (species)?

V.P.: There are many freshwater algae species in all climates. Here is one page listing some of these algae: http://www.micrographia.com/specbiol/alg/alghome/alggen01.htm

bGS: Is it possible to have indoor growth without using more energy from the lights and recirculating water? It would seem that the energy required to produce the light would have to be more than the energy gained from the biodiesel, unless you have a solar source of the light.

V.P.: Yes, that is correct. We will need solar or another “free” or waste energy source for the light.

bGS: If you grow Nannochloropsis outside in something like a shrimp or catfish pen, it is a very tiny alga - could it escape and cause some sort of environmental damage?

V.P.: Algae is present everywhere in nature. It only becomes a problem when human pollution greatly increases nutrients in lakes, estuaries and the sea, thus stimulating excessive algae growth. An algae spill from a production plant is unlikely to cause harm.

bGS: Please describe what any of the nutrients needs are (such as nitrate, phosphate, etc). It would seem that it must need these nutrients. Is there an energy cost and an environmental cost associated with providing those? And, would the energy and the environmental value of the biodiesel be enough to offset those costs?

V.P.: The nutrients needed are nitrate and phosphate and yes, you have to think about where they come from. That’s why we look for synergistic applications like wastewater treatment, where these nutrients are already available and must be removed from water.

Currently, those nutrients are treated as a problem (for example, when they run off into lakes and streams). Using them to make biodiesel and other algae products will turn a problem into a solution.

bGS: Apparently there are several groups who are considering Nannochloropsis among several algae for polyunsaturated fatty oil production. The other algae that looks like a good candidate for biodiesel production is Scenedesmus. What is the reason for choosing Nannochloropsis instead of Scenedesmus?

V.P.: We are agnostic toward algae strains and welcome all experimentation. As noted above, we are only using Nannochloropsis because it is so well documented in algaculture.

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