Algae Mass Cultivation Systems

Algae Mass
Cultivation Systems
Michael A. Borowitzka
+
BEAM - Australian Algae Research Network
The cultivation of algae for
biofuels requires very large
scale cultivation systems
which also must be
extremely low cost.
USA 18,690,000 bbl.day-1 (2009) = 2,971,472,555 L
Canada 2,151,000 bbl.day-1 (2010) = 341,981,672 L
Australia 946,300 bbl.day-1 (2009) = 150,449,678 L
US Jet Fuel use in 2009 was 7.6 x 1010 L
Current
Commercial Production
Systems
Current Commercial Culture Systems
• Extensive ponds (Dunaliella)
• Central Pivot Ponds (Chlorella)
• Raceways (Spirulina, Chlorella, Dunaliella,
Nannochloropsis etc)
• Tanks (aquaculture species)
• Fermenters (Crypthecodinium)
• Big bags (aquaculture species)
• Tubular Photobioreactors (Haematococcus,
Chlorella)
Dunaliella salina plant at Hutt Lagoon Western Australia (Cognis)
© Google Earth
Raceway Ponds, Earthrise Spirulina Production Plant, California
NatureBeta Dunalialla plant, Eilat, Israel
curtesy – Ami Ben Amotz
Cyanotech production
plant, Kona, Hawaii
Reddish ponds =
Haematococcus; other
ponds = Spirulina
Algae Wastewater Treatment Pond – Christchurch, New Zealand
Centre Pivot Ponds, Taiwan Chlorella, Taiwan
Cascade System, Trebon, Czech Republic
Haematococcus plant operated by Algatech Ltd, Kibbuz Ketura, Israel
Chlorella Photobioreactors System – Roquette GmbH – Klötze, Germany
Photosynthetically active volume – 600 m3
19 + 6 reactors
Total Area 12,000 m2
500 km of glass tubing
20 staff
Production = 50 t year-1
Prawn hatchery, at
Al Naif,
Saudi Arabia
Basic Comparison of Systems
Capital Cost
Running Cost
Productivity
Reliability2
●1
●
●
●●
Raceway
Ponds
●●●
●●
●●●
●●●
Cascade
System
●●●
●●
●●●●(●)
●●●
Tubular PBR
●●●●●
●●●●
●●●●
●●●(●)
Fermenter
●●●●●
●●●●●3
●●●●●
●●●●●
Shallow Ponds
1
depends on land cost
2 depends in part on species (note: each system has only a limited number of species
which can be grown)
3 potentially cheaper as no light is required
‘Open’ vs ‘Closed’
Open
Closed
Capital Cost
Lower
Higher
Operating Cost
Lower
Much Higher
Operating Energy
Lower
Much Higher
Temperature Control
None
Possible
Limited
Easy
pH Control
Yes
Yes
O2 concentration
High
Higher
Very High
Less
Up to ~ 1 g L-1
Higher
Cell Damage Risk
Low
High
Contamination
Yes
Yes
Salinity Control
Water Requirement
Cell density
Productivity (long term)
About 2x ‘open’
Productivity
Ash-Free DW
Lipid
CaCO3
Pleurochrysis carterae productivity in raceways – Perth, WA
Pleurochrysis carterae
Pilot Scale – Karratha, Western Australia
Long-term productivities in 1000L
Biocoil in Perth, Western Australia
Alga
Productivity (kg dry
wt.day-1)
Isochrysis (T.iso)
0.6-1.0
Pavlova lutheri
0.6-0.9*
Teraselmis chuii
1.0-1.2
Tetraselmis
suecica
0.5-1.0
Chatoceros
gracilis
0.5-0.8*
Skeletonema
costatum
* Not yet optimised
** Culture unstable
0.05-0.1**
Annual Lipid Productivity
• Chlorella (Klötze, Germany) ~ 13 t ha-1 year-1
• Our alga (Karratha, Australia) ~ 36 t ha-1 year-1
100,000 bbl algal oil production
(~ 10% of Australia’s daily consumption)
Productivity
(g afdw m-2 day-1)
Total Pond Area
(ha)
Total Water
(GL year-1)
20
653
3.9
30
436
2.6
40
327
2.0
Assumes: 30% lipid content, 2 m year-1 evaporation, and 80% recycling of water
after harvesting
Which System?
• Depends on location (climate, land availability
& cost)
• Depends on species (shear tolerance, salinity
tolerance, temperature tolerance)
THANK YOU!
Murdoch University, University of Adelaide, Muradel Pty Ltd
Algae Biofuels Pilot Plant, Karratha, Western Australia