Microalgae
g for pproduction of bulk
chemicals and biofuels
René H. Wijffels
www.algae.wur.nl

Contents

 Biodiesel from microalgae Feasibility study Biorefinery of microalgae Our microalgae research agenda
 Pilot studies: AlgaePARC

Biodiesel from microalgaeg

Botryococcus
Alkanes (C34)z High concentrations (40-70%)zOther algaez

20-60% lipids

High productivity
Palm oil: 6,000 l/ha/year
z Algae:g
20,000-80,000 l/ha/year
yz No competition with foodz Salt waterz

Feasibilityy studyy

Delta nv
Raceway ponds

Horizontal tubes

Flat panels

Tubular reactor
Monitor and Control
Unit

Centrifuge

Harvesttank

Nutrient
InletDO

Stackgas
CO2BiomassPump

Solar collector

Degasser
25 %Headspace

Stack gas
/CO2pHTBiomass p
production cost
1 ha

10.62 € / kg biomass
Labor 28%

Power 22%100 haPPower42%

4.02 € / kg biomass

potential

Centrifuge w estfalia separator AG

Centrifuge Feed Pump

Medium Filter Unit

Medium Feed pump

Medium preparation tank

Harvest broth storage tank

Seaw ater pump station

Automatic Weighing Station w ith Silos

Culture circulation pump

Installations costs

Instrumentation and control

PipingBuildings

Polyethylene tubes Photobioreactor

Culture medium

Carbon dioxide

Media Filters

Air filters

Pow erLabor

Payroll charges

Maintenance

General plant overheads

89% decrease

0.4 € / kg biomass
15 €/GJ

Conclusions Delta report:
peconomical viabilityyPower input is the main constrain in photobioreactors
 Sensitivity analysis show that biomass production costs
can be further decreased from 4 to 0.4 €/kg
 Parameters
Pt
thatth t needd improvementit
Mixing system / efficiency
z Photosynthetic
Ph t
th ti efficiency
ffi iz• reactor design• cultivation conditions• strain improvement / screeningz

Integrate processes

P iti energy balance
Positiveb lstilltill needs
d tot beb reachedh dEconomical Viability:y Process integration and valorisation
Bulk chemicals and biofuels in 1,000 kg microalgae

400 kg lipidszz



500 kg proteinszz

2 €/kg nitrogen

1,600 kg oxygen producedz



1 €/kg polysaccharides

70 kg of N removedz

100 kg for food (5 €/kg protein)
400 kg for feed (0.75 €/kg protein)

100 kg polysaccharidesz

100 kg as feedstock chemical industry(2 €/kg lipids)
300 kg as transport fuel (0.50 €/kglipids)

0.16 €/kg oxygen

Production costs: 0.40 €/kg biomass
Value: 1.65 €/kg biomass

Biofuels
150 €Chemicals
200 €Food proteins
500 €Feed proteins
300 €OxygenO256 €N removal
140 €Sugars
100 €Research programs
p g
Photosynthetic Cell Factories(NWO)
 Solar-H and Solar-H2,SUNBIOPATH (EU) Sealand Sole (Min(Min. Agriculture
Agriculture,province Sealand, companies) SUNLIGHT ((Universityy of Ghent)) CO2 fixation (TNO) Reactor design (Proviron,University Huelva, Wetsus)
 AlgiCoat (Akzo, Ingrepro, Essent)
 Wetsus
W t(17 companies)i ) AlgaePARC (15 companies)Wageningengg research agendagControl of primary metabolism
 Photobioreactor design
 O2 removal and CO2 supply
 Biofilms for post-treatment
wastewater Harvesting and Oil extraction
 Biorefinery Design scenarios AlgaePARC
Control pprimaryy metabolism– Annette Kliphuis, Anne Klok,
P k L
PackoLamers Research reactor to apply wide

range of cultivation conditions On-line monitoring ofproductiond i andd consumption
irates (CO2, O2, N, biomass) Metabolic
M t b li network
tk modeld l anddflux calculations to predict
rates in primary metabolism
 Objective: control metabolism

Photobioreactor design
Maria Cuaresma, Lenneke de Winter,
Jan-Willem
Jan
Willem Zijffers, Rouke Bosma,Niels Henrik Norsker, Carsten VejrazkaTranslate laboratory experiments
topractice, study daily variations:day to day changes in lightz day/nightd / i ht changes
hiin lilighthtz Temperaturez

Development of control strategies
Mixingz Biomass density
y - harvestinggz

O2 removal and CO2 supply
Claudia de Sousa, Ana Santos,
Sayam Raso,
Raso Michiel Michels
 High Oxygen partial pressure inhibits

photosynthesisz Maximal tolerable O2 partial pressurez Strains more resistant to O2z Develop new technology to remove O2

 Energy efficient CO2 supply
z Conditions: highg ppH,, highg saltz Selection of lipid accumulating strains

Biofilms for post-treatment wastewater– Nadine Boelee, Kanjana Tuantet
 biomass is easier to harvest
 no suspended
pmatter ineffluent
 low energy requirement (nomixing) vertical placement is possible(giving higher photosynthetic
efficiency due to light dilution)

Harvestingg and oil extraction
Sina Salim, Dorinde Kleinegris
 Reduction of cost & energy demands
z No additional chemicals
z Ensure medium reuse BioBio- & auto
auto-flocculationflocculationz Microalgae with high lipid content
z Characterization of algaez Mechanistic studyz Kinetics of harvesting Milking of microalgae

Biorefinery: Make value from protein – AnjaSchwenzfeier
Isolation of pure and native
protein from microalgae forfood applications

Characterization and fractionationof the isolated protein

Test techno-functional properties ofisolated protein fractions and its
possible applications as a foodingredientDesign
g scenarios - Ellen SlegersgObjectivez



Whyz



Develop scenarios for production of energy carriers at very large
scale
Logistics: complexity and energy use of supply of materials

Research issues
Which scale is most economic? 1-10-100-…>10,000
1-10-100- >10 000 ha?
z Logistics of a large scale facility are very complex
z Energyz Mixing,
Mixing degassing
degassing, CO2 supply,
supply harvesting,harvesting materials
z Industrialized areas, desert, floating, local
z Day/night/summer/winterz Storage
Sz

AlgaePARC:
gAlgaeg Production and Research Center
Development of a process chain
 Experience with systems
 Information for design of full scale plants
 Comparison of systems
 Comparison of strains Comparison of feeds (nutrients, CO2, sunlight…)
 Supply of biomass forfurther processing
 Further processingAlgaePARCgResearch plan 4 outdoor systems
yof 25 m2 eachOpen pond: referencez Horizontal tubular system: high light intensity, oxygenaccumulationl ti
z Vertical tubular system: low light intensity, oxygen accumulationz Flat panel system: low light intensity, no oxygen accumulationz

4-8 systems of 2.5 m2
 Specific requirements: extra systems2.5 m2 systems
y







Phase between lab and pilot
Test things where you are notsure ofDifferent strains
Different feed stocks
Adaptations in design
New systems
If successfulz

To 25 m2 scale

If not successfulMore experimentsz RejectzConclusions

 Microalgae are promising for production of bulk

chemicals and biofuels Microalgae technology is immature Development
Dlt off technology
t h lrequiresillargeresearch programs Combination with biorefinery important Join forces

Running

What we aim at

FundedLG-smart

LG-smart

NWO algae

WetsusLG-smart

NWO algae

Systems
DesignBiology

Pilot
LG-smart

Biosolar

Biosolar
VICI
Solar-H2

Application
Systems

Metabolicdevelopment
DesignModelling

Biosolar

WetsusFermentation
StrainProductCh i
Chainsprocessing

DBI

AppliedSunlight

NWO algae
WetsusBiosolar
Algicoat

technology
Development

VICI

VICI
Bioprocess

WetsusWetsu
sBiorefinery

NWO algae

Engineering

Analytics
Scale-up
UHU

LG-smart

Pilot
Pilot

LG-smart

Aquaculture
DBI

CO2LG-smart

Proviron
Wetsu
Wetsu
Wetsu
ss
Wetsuss
Innowater

DBI

LG-smart

O2

Collaborative research programsp g Wetsusz AF&F, Dow Chemicals, Delta, Eneco Energie, Essent,

Friesland Campina, De Algg ((Hednesford),) Hubert,Ingrepro, Neste Oil, Liandon (Nuon), Rosendaal
Energy, STOWA, Syngenta, Unilever AlgaePARC
z LOI of 15 companies, Ministry of Agriculture, Biosolar

program province of Gelderland
program, Biorefineryz Combination of end users (for the different biomassfractions) and technology suppliers

www.algae.wur.nlg
 Program coordinators:
 Marcel Janssen: photobioreactors and CO2 transfer
 Marian Vermue: harvesting, biorefinery and O2 effects
 Dirk Martens: metabolic flux modelling
Maria Barbosa: AlgaePARC