Challenges
Ch
ll
and
d opportunities
t iti forf biodieselbi dilfrom algae: approaches by CSIRO, Australia
Energy Transformed National Research Flagship

Susan I. Blackburn, Tom Beer and Kurt Liffman

Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

CSIRO Energy Transformed Flagship Team• Tom Beer – Biofuels Stream Leader; Prefeasibility study• Susan Blackburn – Strain selection and optimisationp• Kurt Liffman – Thermal and fluids engineering• David Batten• Peter K. Campbell• Chong Wong
• Ben Aldham• Greg Griffin• Greg Threlfall• John Volkman• GraemeG
DunstanDt• Dion Frampton• Lesley Clementson• Nicolas Labriere• Ian Jameson• Lisa Albinsson

Photo Martina Doblin

S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

Diesel use growing more rapidly than petrol
Australian Petroleum Consumption
25000
20000

Converging

15000

10000

Petrol (ML)
Diesel (ML)

Diverging

5000

19
60
19 6 163
19 -6 466
19 -6 769
19 -7 072
19 -7 375
19 7 678
19 -7 981
19 8 284
19 -8 587
19 -8 890
19 9 193
19 -9 496
19 -9 799
20 -0 002
20 -0 305
20 0 608-0
90

S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

Why Algae?
• Worldwide interest in making biofuels from biomass is high:• global warming associated with higher levels of GHG emissions• onset of peak oil in a global economy• national energy
gy security
y concerns, and• perceived opportunities for more sustainable, regional development.

• Algae produced most fossil fuels in the first place.
• Microalgae are diverse, grow rapidly, yield more biofuel than oil plants, cansequester CO2, contain no sulphur, are highly biodegradable & are lesscompetitive with other plants as a source of human food, fibre or otherproducts.

• Already they are aqua-cultured to produce various high-value foods,
nutraceuticals and chemicals• Methods adopted have not yet proved to be economically and ecologically
viable for the production of biodiesel or other biofuels in quantities large
enough to replace fossil fuels.
S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009Australia’s
Australia
s competitive advantage

15ºCorhigher

S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009Australian algae industry
Cognis algae lakes, Whyalla, South Australia (also Western Australia)

Nutraceuticals –largest global producer
natural β-carotene;food / feed colourants

S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

Without further research:
Most dedicated algae-to-biodiesel
algae to biodiesel projects will face
uneconomically high costs for:• Algal selection and optimization• Site acquisition and preparation• Bioreactor construction materials• Construction,Ct tiddeploymentlt andd reconstructiont ti• Chemical and energy inputs• Algal harvesting, dewatering and concentration• Lipid extraction• Biodiesel and by-product processing• Surveillance, process control and maintenance• Transport

S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009Australian Government, 5th August 2009
“Minister for Resources and Energy,
Minister for Tourism
SECOND GENERATION BIOFUELSFUNDING ANNOUNCED
The Minister for Resources and Energy,
Martin Ferguson AM MP, today
announced the successful applicants
for funding under the AustralianGovernment's $15 million
Second Generation Biofuels Researchand Development Program.
The Second Generation Biofuels
Research and Development Programsupports the researchresearch, development
and demonstration of new biofuel
technologies which address thesustainable development of the
biofuels industry in Australia.
Australia ”
S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

CSIRO Energy Transformed National Research Flagship:
Innovative second-generation
second generation biofuel technologies• Three major challenges are identified:• Develop and apply (in consultation with stakeholders) asustainability framework to assess the triple-bottom line
status of biofuels.
• Discover, develop and use innovative Australian algalyto improvepefficiencies of biofuel
strains and enzymes
production.
• Scale up operations to a) continuous and b)commercially viable operations.

S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

Algae to Biodiesel Pathway

High protein content(up to 35%)

Further treatment
to recover othervaluable material?

Residual
micro algae

Growth of
micro algae

Harvestingof microalgae
gS.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

Dewateringandextrusion

Extractionof protein

Waste liquor

Selection of
micro algae
speciesp

Digestion/Gasification
andCombustion

Extractionof oil frommicro algaeg

Oil forprocessing
into biofuel

GLYCERINEBIODIESELGreenElectricity• Aquafeed• Animal feed
• Pet feed

Incorporate into
human foods

Algae to Biodiesel Pathway

Pre
PreFeasibility
StudyHigh protein content(up to 35%)

Further treatment
to recover othervaluable material?

Residual
micro algae

Growth of
micro algae

Project onalgal speciation

Harvestingof microalgaegExtractionof oil frommicro algaegProjectjonthermal andfluids engineering

S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

Dewateringandextrusion

Extractionof protein

Waste liquor

Selection of
micro algae
speciesp

Digestion/Gasification
andCombustion

Oil forprocessing
into biofuel

GLYCERINEBIODIESELGreenElectricity• Aquafeed• Animal feed
• Pet feed

Incorporate into
human foods

Pre-feasibility
Prefeasibility study• Objectives:j• To estimate the realistic potential size of microalgae’s contribution
to supplement Australia’s
Australia s conventional fossil fuels;• To place bounds on Australian microbial biomass production under
different land-use scenarios and process technologies;• To
T quantify
tif theth greenhousehgas bbenefits
fit ththatt could
ld emerge as aresult of producing biodiesel from algae;• To examine the possible co-product implications; and• To provide an indicative evaluation of the triple bottom line benefits
associated with the use of algae (and especially microalgae) as a
biofuel.

• Project leader:• Tom Beer
S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

Life Cycle Analysis((Full Fuel Cycleyor Well-To-Wheel analysis)y )S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

Life Cycle Analysis((Full Fuel Cycleyor Well-To-Wheel analysis)y )S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

Life Cycle Analysis((Full Fuel Cycleyor Well-To-Wheel analysis)y )Do these processes
emit more or lesscarbon dioxide
than ppetrol ((or coal))
and its manufacture
S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

32o58.5’S 137o36’E

Scenarios – Ponds only
Cognis, AquaCarotene, Beta Nutrition
SalineSa
e Ponds.
o ds Dunaliellau a e a spec
species.
es Tidalda mixing.
g
20o42’S 116o47.5’E

28o10
10’S
S 114o16
16’E
E

Company aerial photo
24o27’S 113oo33’E
20 42’S 116o47.5’E(Google Earth images)
S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

Bioreactors or ponds?

Bioreactors

Or Ponds

S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

Life Cycle Analysis – Design variables
Assumeracewayponds
i t d off
insteadtidal
mixingAssume30 g/(m2day) [110t/(ha-yr)]
and 15g/(m2g/(m2day) [55t/(ha-yr)]

S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

Carbon Dioxide Emissions per Litre
Biodiesel,
Biodiesel,
Biodiesel,
algal, 100% algal, 15% algal, 100%
CO2 (flue CO2 (truck
CO2(ammonia gas) - power delivered), Biodiesel, ULS diesel,ATcanola, AT
AT
plant), AT station, AT
4000

CO2-e pe
er L

3000

CO2-e (all tailpipe) g CO2-e
CO2-e (all upstream) g CO2-e

2000
1000
0
-1000
-2000
S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

Greenhouse Gas Emissions per Litre
Biodiesel,
Biodiesel, algal, 15% Biodiesel,
algal, 100% CO2 (flue algal, 100%CO2gas) CO2 (truck(ammonia
power
delivered), Biodiesel, ULS diesel,
plant) AT station,
plant),
station AT
AT
canola AT
canola,
AT
3500
3000

GHG (g CO2-e) per L

2500
2000

GHG-CO2-e (fossil tailpipe) g CO2-e
GHG-CO2-e (fossil upstream) g CO2-e

1500
1000
500
0
-500
1000
-1000
-1500
S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

Costs per Litre 30 g/(m2-day)day) [110 t/(ha-yr)]t/(ha yr)]

1.8
1.6
1.4

Cost, excise 2008A$
Cost, capital 2008A$
Cost, transformation & dist 2008A$
Cost, feedstock 2008A$

$/L

1.2
1
0.8
06
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
Biodiesel,
g 100%
algal,
CO2(ammonia
plant), AT

Biodiesel,
Biodiesel,
algal,
g 15%
algal,
g 100%
CO2 (flue gas) CO2 (truckcoal power delivered), AT
plant, AT

S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

Biodiesel,canola, AT

ULS diesel,ATCosts/L ((if only
y 50% yyield)) 15 g
g/(m( 2-day)y) [[55 t/(ha-yr)]( y )]

2
1.8

Cost, excise 2008A$
Cost, capital 2008A$
Cost transformation & dist 2008A$
Cost,
Cost, feedstock 2008A$

Excise regime
from 2015
will disadvantage
biodiesel more

1.6
1.4

$/L
L

1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
Biodiesel,
algal, 100%CO2(ammonia
plant), AT

Biodiesel,
Biodiesel,
algal, 15%algal, 100%
CO2 (flue gas) CO2 (truckcoal power delivered), AT
plant, AT

S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

Biodiesel,canola, AT

ULS diesel,
AT

Greenhouse gas emissions per litre
Biodiesel, algal,
15% CO2 (flue gas)
100% CO2
coal power plant,(ammonia plant), ATAT

g CO2-e Biodiesel, algal,
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
-500
-1000
-1500

S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

Biodiesel, algal,
100% CO2 (truck
delivered), AT

Biodiesel, canola,
AT

ULS diesel, AT

Greenhouse gas emissions per litre
Biodiesel, algal,
15% CO2 (flue gas)
100% CO2
coal power plant,(ammonia plant), ATAT

g CO2-e Biodiesel, algal,

Biodiesel, algal,
100% CO2 (truck
delivered), AT

Biodiesel, canola,
AT

ULS diesel, AT

3500
3000

140.6c

2500
2000
1500

155.4c1000
500

111.0c

0
-500
-1000
-1500

103.6c

81 4c
81.4c

S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

Greenhouse gas pollution cost ($/tonne)
Biodiesel, algal,
15% CO2 (flue gas)
100% CO2
coal power plant,(ammonia plant), ATAT

g CO2-e Biodiesel, algal,

Biodiesel, algal,
100% CO2 (truck
delivered), AT

Biodiesel, canola,
AT

ULS diesel, AT

3500
3000

140.6c

2500
2000
1500

155.4c1000
500

111.0c

0
-500
-1000
-1500

103.6c

81 4c
81.4c

S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009$468/tonne
pollution
emissioncostGreenhouse gas abatement costs ($/tonne)
Biodiesel, algal,
15% CO2 (flue gas)
100% CO2
coal power plant,(ammonia plant), ATAT

g CO2-e Biodiesel, algal,

Biodiesel, algal,
100% CO2 (truck
delivered), AT

Biodiesel, canola,
AT

ULS diesel, AT

3500
3000

140.6c

2500
2000
1500
1000

$926/t500
0$411/t

-500
-1000
-1500

$257/t$211/tS.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009$468/tonne
pollution
emissioncostGreenhouse gas abatement costs ($/tonne)
Biodiesel, algal,
15% CO2 (flue gas)
100% CO2
coal power plant,(ammonia plant), ATAT

g CO2-e Biodiesel, algal,

Biodiesel, algal,
100% CO2 (truck
delivered), AT

Biodiesel, canola,
AT

ULS diesel, AT

3500
3000

140.6c2500$468/tonne
pollution
emission
cost

2000
1500
1000
500
0
-500
-1000

$211/tAlgae using power plant flue gasesis the optimum algal GHG strategy-1500
S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

Life Cycle Analysis• Campbell, P.K., Beer, T., and Batten, D. (2009) Greenhouse
G Sequestration
Gas
S
t ti byb AlgaeAl– energy andd greenhousehgas liflife
cycle studies, in Proc. 6th Australian Life-Cycle Assessment
Conference.
http://www.csiro.au/resources/Greenhouse-SequestrationAlgae.html

S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

Algal strain selection and optimisation
Objective:j
To identify and characterise, develop, enhance and trial
A t li endemic
Australiand i microalgaeilwith
ith ththe b
bestt growthth rates,toil profiles and productivity for production technologies
selected and developed by CSIRO and / or industry partners,
for biodiesel and co-product applications, including GHG
abatement, and suitable for Australian conditions andenvironments.
Project leader:Susan Blackburn

S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

Algal Production:
algae
g p
produce highg biomass in nature ((algal
g blooms))

Dinoflagellate bloom
bloom, eastern Tasmania

Dinoflagellate bloom, eastern Tasmania

S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

Cyanobacterial bloom, Queensland

Fatty acid composition
BDF from

Lipids from

Crude
palm
oil

Crude
coconutoil

Dunaliellamaritima

DunaliellasalinaCaproic acid, C8:0

-

7.4

-

-

-

-

Capric acid, C10:0

-

5.8

-

-

-

-

Lauric acid, C12:0

0.35

49.8

-

-

Myristic acid, C14:0

0.92

18.8

0.4

0.5

2.0

-

Palmitic acid, C16:0

44.1

8.6

11.8

17.8

19.6

39

Stearic acid, C18:0

4.4

2.7

0.4

1.5

3.3

3

Arachidic acid,acid C20:0

0 09
0.09

0 18
0.18

0

0

0

0

Sum of Saturated FA

49.8

93.1

12.6

19.7

25.7

42.0

Palmitoleic acid,
C16 1
C16:1

-

-

4.2

2.5

8.8

2

Oleic acid, C18:1

39.0

5.5

2.5

3.4

7.3

31

Linoleic acid, C18:2

11.2

1.3

4.1

6.1

11.8

5

Linolenic acid, C18:3

-

0.07

45.8

39.4

22.6

8

80.3

74.3

58

Fatty acid

Sum of Unsaturated
50.2
6.9 include other fatty
87.4acids
S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba,
Japan, August
2009
Sums
for algae
FA

Chlorella Polytoma
vulgaris oviforme-

Oil content as % dry weight for some microalgae grownunder nutrient-sufficient conditions
Species

Lipid %

Reference

Chlorella emersonii

291

Chlorella minutissima

31

1

Chlorella sorokiniana

20

1

Chlorella vulgaris

18

1

Dunaliella salina

14.4

2

Dunaliella primolecta

23.1

3

Isochrysis galbana

21.9-38.5

4

Nannochloropsis
p sp.
p33.3-37.8
33.3
37.8

5

Nitzschia closterium

27.7

2

Phaeodactylum tricornutum

19.8

3

Tetraselmis suecica

20-30

6

1: Illman et al. (2000), 2: Zhu and Lee (1997), 3: Thomas et al. (1984b), 4 : Fidalgo et al. (1998),
5: Fábregas et al. (2004), 6: Otero and Fábregas (1997).

Choice of species is critical
S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009Australian National Algae Culture Collection•CSIRO National Biological Collections: Algae – a living
collection•1000 strains of more than 300 microalgae species
y sourced from the tropics to•unique Australian biodiversity,
Antarctica, marine and freshwater microalgal classes•isolation of new strains from Australia’s biodiversity•strain characterisation:
taxonomic identification, chemical& molecular characteristics,
growth parameters

Algal Culture Facility•Controlled environment
rooms and cabinets•Secure facility - AQIS

S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

Formerly
CSIRO Collection of Living Microalgae
http://www.cmar.csiro.au/microalgae

Number of Strains in the Collection, October 2008
250
200

Rest of world
Australian

150
100
50
0
e a e a e a e a e a e a e a e a e a e a e a e a e a e a e a e lla eac e y c e y c e y c e y c e y c e y c e y c e y c e y c e y c e y c e y c e y c e t r ii d y c e t h eyh ph ph ph ph ph ph ph ph ph ph ph ph ph hy ph anpoi r o s o t o n o o n o n o t o g o n o io d o d o c h o x
lil ar hlo hry ryp ya yoch D i gle m a ela rasi nes phi ho usto ant Zoo
R ra X
c C C C C ct
E u u s t ig P P ry m R a
i
Ba
D
Th
P
E
S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

Screening of the Australian National Algae Culture
Collection (ANACC)
Characterise selected strains for:
‘Biodiesel’ Analysis• Fatty acid methyl esters (FAME or biodiesel)
As well as ‘Co
Co-productproduct’ Analysis:• Pigments• Phytosterolsy• Diacylglyceryl ethers• Hydroxy fatty acids• Long chain ketones and fatty acids• Other novel lipids

S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

New Australian strain isolation: Biorational discovery• Biomass production / oils and other products• growth rate; productivity; biomass production• lipid profile; oil content• co-products e.g. protein, carbohydrates, pigments / antioxidants,
omega 3 oils
omega-3
oils, etc
etc.

• Biogeography
g g p y / environment• Australian – endemic: AQIS issues• climatic zones: temperate, sub-tropical, tropical• watert supplyl / quality
lit• extremophiles e.g. hypersaline• wastewater: algae for bioremediation

200 new strains
isolated• Technologies• open ponds or photobioreactors or a combination of both• flue gas / CO2 sources (high CO2 assimilation)

S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

New Strains isolated 2009

Hypersaline 13_ cf Dunaliella

KTPL3-19 Closterium sp.

Lauderia annulata
S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

Hypersaline 40_ cyanobacteria

BBUL04 Botryococcus

DF_Hypersaline_ Nitzschia closterium

Botryococcus braunii: source of long-chain hydrocarbons
Up to 86% of the dry weight of thegreen alga Botryococcus braunii canbe long-chain hydrocarbons. The
composition depends on the particular
race of Botryococcus.
Botryococcus The classic“race”hydrocarbons are called
botryococcenes. These are C30-C37
isoprenoid triterpenes having theformula CnH2n-10
Botryococcus can bloom in Australianwaters; however it grows slowly.
UniversityUi
it off W
Westernt
S
Sydneyd/ CSIROcollaboration : Energy andNanotechnology: nano-scale catalysts for
production of biofuels
S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

Screening of ANACC microalgae
Fatty acid yield versus biomass productionwastewater
Chlorophytes
other Chlorophytes

Yield (g FAME pro
oduced/t medium)

70
60

Di t
Diatoms50

Eustigmatophytes
40

H t htHaptophytes
30

Cyanophytes

20

Prasinophytes

10

Cryptomonads

0

Dinoflagellates
0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

Algal Biomass (g DW produced/t medium)

Diagonal line indicates 10% of dry weight is fatty acid
S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

Screening of ANACC microalgae
Fatty acid yield and Cetane Number (90 strains)

Yield (g FAME prod
duced/t mediu
um)70

wastewater Chlorophytes

60

other Chlorophytes

50

Diatoms40

Eustigmatophytes

30

Haptophytes

20

Cyanophytes

10Prasinophytes0

Cryptomonads
15

20

25

30

35

40

45

cetane number

S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

50

55

60

65

Dinoflagellates

Biodiscovery: hypersaline green
microalgae
Typically Dunaliella spp. do not produce the long-chain
C20 and C22 Omega 3 PUFA
strainDunaliellatertiolecta

Dunaliella-like which
produces long-chain PUFA

fatty
acid

CS-175*

BD3
-13

BD312

BD309

BD306

BD301

BD303

BD305

BD307

BD317

BD304

BD308

BD316

BD3-15

CS-187*

16:4
w3

21.0

8.7

10.7

10.8

19.1

12.1

14.0

13.4

13.3

14.2

13.2

12.4

14.7

15.2

10.8

20:5
w3

-

-

-

-

-

0.1

0.2

0.2

0.2

0.2

0.2

6.8

6.6

9.0

4.8

22:6
w3

-

-

-

-

-

0.2

0.8

0.9

1.0

1.0

1.5

-

-

-

trace

Dunaliellalike*Volkman et al. 1989
S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

Tetraselmis-like

Tetraselmis
suecicaPotential co-products:
co products: Pigments

S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

High pigment producing strains
Highestg
lipid
producers% of total p
pigments

80
60
40
20

(C
s

Sample code
Perid

Fuco

Zea

Lut

S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

Chl b

B,B-carotene

)

)
at
oc
oc
cu

(H
s
ae
m
H

at
oc
oc
cu

ae
m
H

B

ot
r

yo
c

bi
od
in

oc
cu
s

iu
m

?
Sy
m

op

Eu
st

ig
m
at

C

hy
te

os
ira
ym
at

lie
ll a
un
a
D

te

C

ya
no

D

ph
y

.s

al
in
a

(F
)

0

Tot. astax isomers

Co-productCo
product Development: Oil / Pigments

S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

Thermal and fluids engineering project(CSIRO Materials Sciences and Engineering)• Task Objectives:j• To provide the following areas of expertise and equipment:• Optimising Flow Conditions• Flow Optimisation within Pipelines• Algae Separation• Heat Transfer• Impellor Design• Sparging Systems• To evaluate the cost-efficiency of Open Ponds versus
Covered Ponds or Raceways versus Enclosed
Photobioreactors• Project Leader:• Kurt Liffman

S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

Project Background•••

Relatively straight forward to make fuel from micro-algae
micro algae.
Technologically viable process since the 1970s
Lance Hillen (DSTO, Aust) produced jet A and petrol from Botryococcus•••

Challenge: to produce algal fuel economically.
Fundamental problem: Algal slurry is a dilute medium
T tonnesTent
off algal
l l slurry/waterl/ t processedd tot produced
one litre
lit off oilil•

Potential solution: minimize capital costs and “free” energy input, i.e.,• Cheap land
• Stirred, open ponds; not photo-bioreactors• Atmosphericp
CO2 , for true biosequestrationq• Cheap, quick harvesting system

S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

Improving Open Pond Productivity
We wish to understand the factors governing the productivity in race-way
ponds and then applyp
pp y these pprinciplespto basic open
p p
ponds

Raceway pond
S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

O
Open
pond
d

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
We have built a computational code to model the growth of algae in raceway andopen ponds
ponds. Factors of interest are: intensity of sunlight,
sunlight CO2 absorption/diffusion,
absorption/diffusion
turbulence, pressure drop, velocity, algae growth.
Racewayy Pond Computationalp
DomainCoarse Grid

Fine Grid
Paddle Wheel

200 m longg
30 m wide
0.5 m deep

S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)

Racewayy Pond Pressure and VelocityyPPressure

Velocity

Raceway Ponds tend to be expensive
and energy intensive, as the water isalways in motion.

S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009Computational Fluid Dynamics – Mixing of algal ponds
Our initial (qualitative) results suggest that the degree of mixing is a fundamental
driver of algae productivity
productivity. We are attempting to quantify this mathematically within our
CFD code. Industrial scale mixing simulations of open ponds.

Computationpof a pplume of fertiliser – real p
pond scenario. Wind p
powered mixing.
g

S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

Separation / harvesting technologies

Besides capital cost, harvesting algae is the major cost impediment (1020%) in making algae a commercially competitive feed stock forbiodiesel.
biodiesel
There are a number of algae harvesting technologies, e.g. sedimentation,ffloatation,filtersf
and centrifuges.
f
The separation system has to be
designed for an individual alga / growth technology.
We have developed a potential in-line harvesting system called the CST,
which uses centrifugal force, but without the expensive centrifuge(provisional p(ppatent).
)S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

In-line Algae Separation System(CSIRO SeparaTor or CST)

500L capacity

S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

CST – experimental results

Percentage of oil in water
S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

The future: Combined technologies /bioremediation / multiple bioproducts

Speciality chemicals
Biodiesel
S.I. Blackburn, Biofuels Symposium, Tsukuba, Japan, August 2009

Fermentation to alcohols
Protein meal

CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research

Susan BlackburnThank you

Email: susan.blackburn@csiro.au
Web:http://www.cmar.csiro.au/microalgae/

Contact Us
Phone: 1300 363 400 or +61 3 9545 2176
Email: Enquiries@csiro.au Web: www.csiro.au