• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
• /
• 제6권5호
• /
• pp.352-358
• /
• 2001

Because algal cells are so efficient at absorbing incoming light energy, providing more light energy to photobioreactors would simply decrease energy conversion efficiency. Furthermore, the algal biomass productivity in photobioreactor is always proportional to the total photosynthetic rate. In order to optimize the productivity of algal photobioreactors (PBRs), the oxygen production rate should be estimated. Based on a simple model of light penetration depth and algal photosynthesis, the oxygen production rate in high-density microalgal cultures could be calculated. The estimated values and profiles of oxygen production rate by this model were found to be in accordance with the experimental data. Optimal parameters for PBR operations were also calculated using the model.

• 한국해양바이오학회지
• /
• 제6권2호
• /
• pp.118-122
• /
• 2014

The ocean provide great benefits for microalgal mass cultures with maintaining stable temperature due to high specific heat, mixing by wave energy, and providing large area for large-scale microalgae cultures. In this study, we cultivated a marine green microalga, Tetraselmis sp. KCTC12432BP, using marine photobioreactors on the ocean for investigating the effect of $NaHCO_3$ concentration on the biomass productivities and evaluating the potential of ocean microalgae culture. The culture medium consist of three fold concentrated f/2-Si with 4 g/L of $NaHCO_3$, which is dissolved in natural seawater. After 11 days of cultivation, the cultures reached stationary phase at biomass concentration of 1.6 g/L. At that time, $NaHCO_3$ concentration of 0, 2, and 4 g/L were fed to the cultures. The daily productivities of 0.11, 0.19, 0.30 g/L/day were attained with feeding rate of 0, 2, and 4 g/L $NaHCO_3$, respectively. Biomass productivity of Tetraselmis sp. KCTC12432BP was a function of the $NaHCO_3$ feeding rate as expected. This research shows that the microalgae can grow with $NaHCO_3$ as carbon source in marine photobioreactors on the ocean while exploiting various benefits of ocean cultivation.

• Ocean and Polar Research
• /
• 제34권4호
• /
• pp.365-384
• /
• 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
• /
• 제27권6호
• /
• pp.1138-1149
• /
• 2017

The use of microalgal biomass is an interesting technology for the removal of heavy metals from aqueous solutions owing to its high metal-binding capacity, but the interactions with bacteria as a strategy for the removal of toxic metals have been poorly studied. The goal of the current research was to investigate the potential of Burkholderia tropica co-immobilized with Chlorella sp. in polyurethane discs for the biosorption of Hg(II) from aqueous solutions and to evaluate the influence of different Hg(II) concentrations (0.041, 1.0, and 10 mg/l) and their exposure to different contact times corresponding to intervals of 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32 h. As expected, microalgal bacterial biomass adhered and grew to form a biofilm on the support. The biosorption data followed pseudo-second-order kinetics, and the adsorption equilibrium was well described by either Langmuir or Freundlich adsorption isotherm, reaching equilibrium from 1 h. In both bacterial and microalgal immobilization systems in the co-immobilization of Chlorella sp. and B. tropica to different concentrations of Hg(II), the kinetics of biosorption of Hg(II) was significantly higher before 60 min of contact time. The highest percentage of biosorption of Hg(II) achieved in the co-immobilization system was 95% at pH 6.4, at 3.6 g of biosorbent, $30{\pm}1^{\circ}C$, and a mercury concentration of 1 mg/l before 60 min of contact time. This study showed that co-immobilization with B. tropica has synergistic effects on biosorption of Hg(II) ions and merits consideration in the design of future strategies for the removal of toxic metals.

• 유기물자원화
• /
• 제20권1호
• /
• pp.78-86
• /
• 2012

본 연구에서는 제 3세대 바이오매스 미세조류를 이용한 혐기성 암발효 수소 생산 과정에서 산 전처리의 최적화를 통계학적 실험방법인 반응표면법을 적용하여 도출 하였다. 1~3% (v/w)의 산 농도와 10~60 min 전처리 시간을 최적화 실험 범위로 설정하였으며 기질농도 76 g dcw/L와 초기 pH는 7.4로 고정하였고 수소발효 운전 중에 pH는 조절하지 않았다. 최적화 결과 HCl 1.2%와 반응시간 48 min에서 가장 높은 수소전환율인 36.8 mL $H_{2}/g$ dcw을 얻었으며 이때 가용화율은 18.9%로 나타났다. 정확도는 $R^{2}$=0.95로 매우 정확한 상관계수를 보였고 ANOVA test를 통해 예측된 수소전환율에 관련한 경험식은 a quadratic polynomial equation 으로 나타났으며 반응시간보다 산주입농도가 수소 생산에 큰 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다.

• 한국미생물·생명공학회지
• /
• 제42권2호
• /
• pp.131-138
• /
• 2014

While coupling wastewater treatment with microalgal bioenergy production is very promising, new approaches are needed to enhance microalgal growth and lipid accumulation in wastewater. Therefore, this study investigated the effect of iron on the growth, nutrient removal, and lipid accumulation of Scenedesmus sp. LX1 in both artificial wastewater and domestic secondary effluents. When increasing the iron concentration from 0 to 2 mg/l in the artificial wastewater, the biomass production of Scenedesmus sp. LX1 increased from 0.17 to 0.54 g/l; the nitrogen and phosphorus removal efficiency increased from 15.7% and 80.6% to 97.0% and 99.2%, respectively; and the lipid content was enhanced 84.2%. The relationship between the carrying capacity/maximal population growth rate of Scenedesmus sp. LX1 and the initial iron concentration were also in accordance with the Monod model. Furthermore, when increasing the iron concentration to 2 mg/l in four different domestic secondary effluent samples, the lipid content and lipid production of Scenedesmus sp. LX1 was improved by 17.4-33.7% and 21.5-41.8%, respectively.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• 제16권5호
• /
• pp.689-694
• /
• 2006

We investigated the potential use of various carbon sources (fructose, glucose, mannose, lactose, and glycerol) for culturing Phaeodactylum tricornutum UTEX-640 in mixotrophic and heterotrophic batch cultures. Concentrations of carbon substrates tested ranged from 0.005 M to 0.2 M. P. tricornutum did not grow heterotrophically on any of the C-sources used, but successive additions of organic carbon in mixotrophic growth mode substantially increased the biomass concentration and productivity relative to photoautotrophic controls. The maximum biomass productivities in mixotrophic cultures for glycerol, fructose, and glucose were 21.30 mg/l h, 15.80 mg/l h, and 10.20 mg/l h, respectively. These values were respectively 10-, 8-, and 5-fold higher than those obtained in the corresponding photoautotrophic control cultures. Mannose and lactose did not significantly affect microalgal growth. The biomass lipids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and pigments contents were considerably enhanced with glycerol and fructose in relation to photoautotrophic controls. The EPA content was barely affected by the sugars, but were more than 2-fold higher in glycerol-fed cultures than in photoautotrophic controls.

• 한국해양바이오학회지
• /
• 제16권1호
• /
• pp.36-44
• /
• 2024

This study attempted to improve the growth of the freshwater microalgae, Parachlorella kessleri, through the sequential optimization of culture conditions. This attempt aimed to enhance the microalgae's ability to fixate atmospheric CO₂. Culture temperature and light intensity appropriate for microalgal growth were scanned using a high-throughput photobioreactor system. The supplied air flow rate varied from 0.05 to 0.3 vvm, and its effect on the growth rate of P. kessleri was determined. Next, sodium phosphate buffer was added to the culture medium (BG11) to enhance CO₂ fixation by increasing the availability of CO₂(HCO₃^-) in the culture medium. The results indicated that optimal culture temperature and light intensity were 20℃-25℃ and 300 μE/m²/s, respectively. Growth rates of P. kessleri under various air flow rates highly depended on the increase of the culture's flow rate and pH which determines CO₂ availability. Adding sodium phosphate buffer to BG11 to maintain a constant neutral pH (7.0) improved microalgal growth compared to control conditions (BG11 without sodium phosphate). These results indicate that the CO₂ fixation rate in the air could be enhanced via the sequential optimization of microalgal culture conditions.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• 제32권3호
• /
• pp.378-386
• /
• 2022

Scenedesmus obliquus ABC-009 is a microalgal strain that accumulates large amounts of lutein, particularly when subjected to growth-limiting conditions. Here, the performance of this strain was evaluated for the simultaneous production of lutein and biofuels under three different modes of cultivation - photoautotrophic mode using BG-11 medium with air or 2% CO₂ and heterotrophic mode using YM medium. While it was found that the highest fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) level and lutein content per biomass (%) were achieved in BG-11 medium with CO₂ and air, respectively, heterotrophic cultivation resulted in much higher biomass productivity. While the cell concentrations of the cultures grown under BG-11 and CO₂ were largely similar to those grown in YM medium, the disparity in the biomass yield was largely attributed to the larger cell volume in heterotrophically cultivated cells. Post-cultivation light treatment was found to further enhance the biomass productivity in all three cases and lutein content in heterotrophic conditions. Consequently, the maximum biomass (757.14 ± 20.20 mg/l/d), FAME (92.78 ± 0.08 mg/l/d), and lutein (1.006 ± 0.23 mg/l/d) productivities were obtained under heterotrophic cultivation. Next, large-scale lutein production using microalgae was demonstrated using a 1-ton open raceway pond cultivation system and a low-cost fertilizer (Eco-Sol). The overall biomass yields were similar in both media, while slightly higher lutein content was obtained using the fertilizer owing to the higher nitrogen content.