Abstract
Oil production was tested with Neochloris oleoabundans in a 6 m3, horizontal soft sleeve tubular reactor from 22 October to 7 November in Matalascañas, southern Spain. Biomass productivity during the nitrogen replete phase was 7.4 g dw m−2 day−1. Maximum lipid content in the biomass was 39% and average lipid productivity during the nitrogen depletion phase was 2.0 g m−2 day−1. Nitrogen depletion of the cultures was carried out in order to enhance fatty acid formation, using the inverse nitrogen quota in the biomass to predict the fatty acid content. TFA concentration at harvest was 14% DW, compared to a value of 17%, predicted by the inverse nitrogen quota. The overall feasibility of the horizontal tubular technology for microalgal oil production, including mixing energy expenditure, was evaluated.
Highlights
Microalgal oil production for transportation fuels received considerable interest during a period with high crude oil prices, roughly from 2005 to 2014 and multiple projects were started to develop microalgal production and downstream processing technology
We carried out a full-scale projection study of various algal biomass production techniques in (Norsker et al 2011) and we examined photobioreactor auxiliary energy requirements in (Norsker et al 2012)
We concluded that the horizontal tubular photobioreactor with disposable soft sleeve-tubes had the best development potential to become a full-scale production technology for microalgal transportation fuels
Summary
Microalgal oil production for transportation fuels received considerable interest during a period with high crude oil prices, roughly from 2005 to 2014 and multiple projects were started to develop microalgal production and downstream processing technology. We carried out a full-scale projection study of various algal biomass production techniques in (Norsker et al 2011) and we examined photobioreactor auxiliary energy requirements in (Norsker et al 2012). We concluded that the horizontal tubular photobioreactor with disposable soft sleeve-tubes had the best development potential to become a full-scale production technology for microalgal transportation fuels. A number of tubular photobioreactor production plants have been established (Fernández et al 2020). The plants, produce high-value products, such as food supplements while microalgae are not yet to any significant extent used as a feedstock for biofuels production and most of the algal fuel projects have either been closed down or changed focus to high value products. A number of oil companies are running projects with the aim to develop microalgae for biodiesel or aviation fuels
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