Analysis of Economic and Environmental Aspects of Microalgae Biorefinery for Biofuels Production: A Review

Chia, Shir Reen; Chew, Kit Wayne; Show, Pau Loke; Yap, Yee Jiun; Ong, Hwai Chyuan; Ling, Tau Chuan; Chang, Jo Shu

doi:10.1002/biot.201700618

Cited by 95 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…The potential of direct AD of microalgae biomass was addressed in their research, taking into account the energetic recovery and necessary nutrient recycle for largescale productions. Chia et al [73] discussed the economic potential of biohydrogen and biogas production in Germany and Spain. Two processes were compared: direct AD of microalgae biomass (DAD) and coupled hydrogen and biogas production (CHB).…”

Section: State Of the Art: Tea Of Microalgal Biogasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Techno-Economic Analysis of Biogas Production from Microalgae through Anaerobic Digestion

Wu¹,

Moreira²,

Zhang³

et al. 2019

Anaerobic Digestion

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Microalgae are a promising feedstock for bioenergy due to higher productivity, flexible growing conditions, and high lipid/polysaccharide content compared to terrestrial biomass. Microalgae can be converted to biogas through anaerobic digestion (AD). AD is a mature technology with a high energy return on energy invested. Microalgae AD can bypass energy intensive dewatering operations that are associated with liquid fuel production from algae. A techno-economic assessment of the commercial feasibility of algae-based biogas production was conducted using Cyanothece BG0011 biomass as an example. BG0011 is a naturally occurring, saline cyanobacterium isolated from Florida Keys. It fixes atmospheric nitrogen and produces exopolysaccharide (EPS). Maximum cell density and EPS concentration of 2.7 and 2.1 g afdw 1 /L (for total algae biomass concentration of 4.8 g afdw/L) were obtained by air sparging. For an areal cell and EPS productivity of 12.4 and 9.6 g afdw/m2/day, respectively, the biomethane production cost was 14.8 $/MMBtu using covered anaerobic lagoon and high-pressure water scrubbing for biogas purification. Electricity production from biogas costs 13 cents/kwh. If areal productivity was increased by 33% from the same system, by sparging air enriched with 1% CO2, then biomethane cost was reduced to 12.16 $/MMBtu and electricity cost to 11 cents/kwh.

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Section: State Of the Art: Tea Of Microalgal Biogasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Techno-Economic Analysis of Biogas Production from Microalgae through Anaerobic Digestion

Wu¹,

Moreira²,

Zhang³

et al. 2019

Anaerobic Digestion

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show abstract

“…The overwhelming hurdle identified to widespread commercial production of microalgae as a bio-feedstock is the cultivation and harvesting strategy employed (Barsanti and Gualtieri 2018;Chia et al 2018;Beal et al 2015). It has been repeatedly concluded that cultivation in photobioreactors is more costly than open raceway ponds in terms of capital investment, but when downstream processing costs are considered, the higher cell densities achievable in photobioreactors are more economically advantageous (Davis et al 2011).…”

Section: Economic Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Green microalgae biomolecule separations and recovery

Dixon

Wilken

2018

Bioresour. Bioprocess.

102

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Microalgae biomass has garnered significant attention as a renewable energy feedstock and alternative to petroleumbased fuels. The diverse metabolism of green microalgae species additionally provides opportunities for recovery of products for feed, food, nutraceutical, cosmetic, and biopharmaceutical industries. Recently, the concept of using microalgae as part of a biorefinery model has been adopted in place of refinery methods focused on recovering one target product. This has led to producers exploring co-production of high value and high volume products in an effort to improve process economics. With numerous potential products and applications, the biomass source or specific strain must be carefully selected to accumulate extractable levels of the target molecule(s). It is additionally imperative to understand the morphology and metabolism of the selected strain to cost-effectively manage all stages of commercial production. This review will focus specifically on microalgae in the division of Chlorophyta, or green algae and their extracellular matrices (ECM), potential for commercial products, and finally describe a holistic approach for biomolecule extraction and recovery. Additionally, cell disruption and fractionation methods for recovery of biomolecules for commercial products are highlighted along with an alternative method, aqueous enzymatic processing for multiple biomolecule extraction and recovery from green microalgae. An emphasis is placed on connecting the morphological characteristics of microalgae ECM or organelle membranes to implications on separation and purification technologies.

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“…Moreover, energy recovery (e.g., biogas production) can be carried out through an anaerobic osmotic membrane bioreactor (An-OMBR) which integrates FO with anaerobic treatment by submerging an FO membrane inside the bioreactor. FO processes can be used to concentrate nutrients and harvest algae which is a bioenergy source, where biodiesel can be produced from its lipid extract and bioethanol can be fermented from its carbohydrates [10,11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors Affecting the Performance of Membrane Osmotic Processes for Bioenergy Development

et al. 2020

Self Cite

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Forward osmosis (FO) and pressure-retarded osmosis (PRO) have gained attention recently as potential processes to solve water and energy scarcity problems with advantages over pressure-driven membrane processes. These processes can be designed to produce bioenergy and clean water at the same time (i.e., wastewater treatment with power generation). Despite having significant technological advancement, these bioenergy processes are yet to be implemented in full scale and commercialized due to its relatively low performance. Hence, massive and extensive research has been carried out to evaluate the variables in FO and PRO processes such as osmotic membrane, feed solutions, draw solutions, and operating conditions in order to maximize the outcomes, which include water flux and power density. However, these research findings have not been summarized and properly reviewed. The key parts of this review are to discuss the factors influencing the performance of FO and PRO with respective resulting effects and to determine the research gaps in their optimization with the aim of further improving these bioenergy processes and commercializing them in various industrial applications.

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Analysis of Economic and Environmental Aspects of Microalgae Biorefinery for Biofuels Production: A Review

Cited by 95 publications

References 55 publications

Techno-Economic Analysis of Biogas Production from Microalgae through Anaerobic Digestion

Techno-Economic Analysis of Biogas Production from Microalgae through Anaerobic Digestion

Green microalgae biomolecule separations and recovery

Factors Affecting the Performance of Membrane Osmotic Processes for Bioenergy Development

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