• KSBB Journal
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• 제29권3호
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• pp.220-224
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• 2014

Flocculation is known one of the effective methods for harvesting microalgae. This study was aimed to optimize the flocculation condition for decreasing the amounts of flocculant and obtaining the highest yield of algal biomass. To achieve this goal, it was optimized the flocculant concentration, reaction pH and the concentration of cell density for harvest using response surface methodology (RSM). The flocculation of microalgae, Spirogyra varians, was carried out using inorganic flocculant polyaluminium chloride. By the RSM result, the optimal flocculation condition was calculated 5 ppm of polyaluminum chloride, pH 7.5 and 0.33 of optical cell density at $OD_{640}$. The obtained recovery yield of S. varians was 97.6% at the optimal condition.

• 상하수도학회지
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• 제35권6호
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• pp.405-415
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• 2021

MMBR system has been suggested as a promising system to resolve harvesting problems induced from low settling efficiency of microalgae. And recently, a lot of research on reducing fouling at the MMBR system has investigated focused on EPS in many cases. EPS of microalgae mainly consists of polysaccharides and protein components, and is produced through photosynthesis and nitrogen-carbon metabolic pathways. Especially, P-EPS is one of major compounds which occur membrane fouling phenomenon, as its hydrophobic protein components cause floc formation and cake layer accumulation. And it is already known that almost every microalgae can metabolize P-EPS or Chl-a when nitrogen sources as a substrate is insufficient or exhausted situation. With the above backgrounds, uptake rates of P-EPS or Chl-a by Scenedesmus quadricauda according to the type of carbon source and nitrogen concentration were evaluated in order to verify correlation between carbon source vs P-EPS production, and indeed Scenedesmus quadricauda uses P-EPS or Chl-a when the amounts of nitrogen sourc es in the feed is not satisfied. As a result, it was shown that P-EPS and Chl-a production were increased proportional to nitrogen concentration under organic carbon condition. And especially, the amo unts of P-EPS and Chl-a in the cell were diminished with the nitrogen source becomes insufficient or exhausted. Because P-EPS accelerates fouling at the MMBR system, P-EPS degradation by Scenedesmus quadricauda in order to get nitrogen source may contribute to reducing fouling. About a affects of N-consumed Chl-a to the MMBR fouling, more survey is needed. On the contrary, considering the purpose of MMBR system of this study, i.e. harvesting useful high value microalgae efficiently feeding adequate industrial process wastewater, it seems like difficult to maintain satisfied metabolic activity and to harvest with high yield rate using nitrogen-poor MMBR feed.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제28권4호
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• pp.630-637
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• 2018

The high rate algal ponds (HRAP) powered and mixed by a paddlewheel have been widely used for over 50 years to culture microalgae for the production of various products. Since light incidence is limited to the surface, water depth can affect microalgal growth in HRAP. To investigate the effect of water depth on microalgal growth, a mixed microalgal culture constituting three major strains of microalgae including Chlorella sp., Scenedesmus sp., and Stigeoclonium sp. (CSS), was grown at different water depths (20, 30, and 40 cm) in the HRAP, respectively. The HRAP with 20cm of water depth had about 38% higher biomass productivity per unit area ($6.16{\pm}0.33g{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}d^{-1}$) and required lower nutrients and energy consumption than the other water depths. Specifically, the algal biomass of HRAP under 20cm of water depth had higher settleability through larger floc size (83.6% settleability within 5 min). These results indicate that water depth can affect the harvesting process as well as cultivation of microalgae. Therefore, we conclude that water depth is an important parameter in HRAP design for mass cultivation of microalgae.

• 상하수도학회지
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• 제32권2호
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• pp.153-158
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• 2018

In this study, effects of nutrient and inorganic carbon on single cell emergence during the cultivation of microalgae were observed using colonial green algae, Pediastrum duplex. The concentration of inorganic carbon had significant effect on single cell emergence and its growth, but nitrogen and phosphorus concentration showed minor effects. According to P. duplex cultivation experiment, single cell started to be emerged around 500~750 mg-C/L of inorganic carbon concentration and it was bloomed dramatically at the higher values. And growth of P. duplex was started to be surpressed at the single cell formation concentration. From the results, it could be said that when we operate the microalgae systems for cultivation/harvesting or wastewater treatment, in order to avoid single cell formation, inorganic carbon should be maintained to the proper level.

• 유기물자원화
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• 제23권1호
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• pp.38-44
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• 2015

본 연구에서는 저온 해양성 미세조류인 Nannochloropsis sp.를 대상으로 (주)아이엠비즈에서 개발한 수직형 고효율 광배양기를 통한 생산성 평가를 목적으로 2톤의 배양액으로 자가영양의 옥외생장실험을 진행하였다. 한달간 진행된 실험에서, 0.1%의 $CO_2$를 주입한 배양에서는 일평균 0.953g/L의 생산성을 나타냈으며, 공기만을 주입했을 경우에는 0.574g/L의 생산성을 나타냈다. 온도의 분포는 최저 $20^{\circ}C$에서 최고 $31^{\circ}C$에 이르렀으며, 이 범위에서 온도에 따른 생산성의 변화는 크게 차이가 없는 것으로 나타났다. 빛의 세기는 최저 5,000럭스에서 최고 4만 럭스 내외로 조사되었으며, 빛의 세기와 미세조류의 생장사이에 매우 밀접한 관련이 있는 것으로 밝혀졌다. 한편, 본 실험에서 시도된 개발된 배양기를 통한 가압부상에 의한 조류의 수확방법은 효과가 매우 높은 것으로 나타났다.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• 제34권4호
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• pp.365-384
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• 2012

Microalgae are photosynthetic microorganisms that are highly productive in the presence of basic renewable natural sources (light, $CO_2$, water and nutrients). They can synthesize lipids, carbohydrates and proteins in a small number of days. Subsequently, these carbon-captured products can be processed into both biofuels and valuable co-products. Additionally, microalgae would be an ideal feedstock for replacing land-based food crops with cellular products as high energy density transportation fuels. These microscopic organisms could contribute a significant amount of renewable energy on a global scale. In Korea, microalgae biofuel research was common in the early 1990s. The research activities were unfortunately stopped due to limited governmental funds and low petroleum prices. Interest in algal biofuels in Korea has been growing recently due to an increased concern over oil prices, energy security, greenhouse gas emissions, and the potential for other biofuel feedstock to compete for limited agricultural resources. The high productivity of microalgae suggests that much of the Korean transportation fuel requirements can be met by biofuels at a production cost competitive with the increasing cost of petroleum seen in early 2008. At this time, the development of microlalgal biomass production technology remains in its infancy. This study reviewed microalgae culture systems and biomass production, harvesting, oil extraction, conversion, and technoeconomical bottlenecks. Many technical and economic barriers to using microalgal biofuels need to be overcome before mass production of microalgal-derived fuel substitutes is possible. However, serious efforts to overcome these barriers could become a large-scale commercial reality. Overall, this study provides a brief overview of the past few decades of global microalgal research.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제24권11호
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• pp.1566-1573
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• 2014

Although most algae cultivation systems are operated in suspended culture, an attached growth system can offer several advantages over suspended systems. Algal cultivation becomes light-limited as the microalgal concentration increases in the suspended system; on the other hand, sunlight penetrates deeper and stronger in attached systems owing to the more transparent water. Such higher availability of sunlight makes it possible to operate a raceway pond deeper than usual, resulting in a higher areal productivity. The attached system achieved 2.8-times higher biomass productivity and total lipid productivity of $9.1g\;m^{-2}day^{-1}$ and $1.9g\;m^{-2}day^{-1}$, respectively, than the suspended system. Biomass productivity can be further increased by optimization of the culture conditions. Moreover, algal biomass harvesting and dewatering were made simpler and cheaper in attached systems, because mesh-type substrates with attached microalgae were easily removed from the culture and the remaining treated wastewater could be discharged directly. When the algal biomass was dewatered using natural sunlight, the palmitic acid (C16:0) content increased by 16% compared with the freeze-drying method. There was no great difference in other fatty acid composition. Therefore, the attached system for algal cultivation is a promising cultivation system for mass biodiesel production.

• 한국물환경학회지
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• 제38권6호
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• pp.282-291
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• 2022

Since the efficiency of wastewater treatment using microalgae differs depending on the metabolic characteristics of the species, it is important to understand the characteristics of target algae prior to the application in wastewater treatment. In this study, for the application of Arthrospira platensis to wastewater treatment, which is a filamentous alkaliphilic cyanobacteria, basic species specificity was identified and the possibility of application to wastewater treatment was investigated. As a result of the species specificity investigation, the specific growth rate between pH 7.0 and 11.0 showed the highest value near pH 9 at 0.25/day. The reason for the relatively low growth(0.08/day) at pH 11 was thought to be the CA(carbonic anhydrase) enzyme that is involved in carbon fixation during photosynthesis has the highest activity at pH 8.0 to 9.0, and at pH 11, CA activity was relatively low. In addition, A. platensis showed optimal growth at 400 PPFD(photosynthetic photon flux density) and 30℃, and this means that cyanobacteria such as A. platensis have a larger number of PS-I(photosystem I) than that of PS-II(photosystem II). It was speculated that it was because higher light intensity and temperature were required to sufficiently generate electrons to transfer to PS-I. Regarding the applicability of A. platensis, it was suggested that if a system using the synergistic effect of co-culture of A. platensis and bacteria was developed, a more efficient system would be possible. And different from single cocci, filamentous A. platensis expected to have a positive impact on harvesting, which is very important in the latter part of the wastewater treatment process.