Sustainable Production of Algal Biomass and Biofuels Using Swine Wastewater in North Carolina, US

Abstract

Algae were recently considered as a promising third-generation biofuel feedstock due to their superior productivity, high oil content, and environmentally friendly nature. However, the sustainable production became the major constraint facing commercial development of algal biofuels. For this study, firstly, a factorial experimental design was used to analyze the effects of the process parameters including temperatures of 8-25˝C, light intensity of 150-900 µmol¨m´2s´1, and light duration of 6-24 h on the biomass yields of local alga Chlamydomonas debaryana in swine wastewater. The results were fitted with a quadratic equation (R 2 = 0.9706). The factors of temperature, light duration, the interaction of light intensity-light duration, and the quadratic effect of temperature were statistically significant. When evaluating different scenarios for the sustainable production of algal biomass and biofuels in North Carolina, US, it showed that: (a) Growing C. debaryana in a 10-acre pond on swine wastewater under local weather conditions would yield algal biomass of 113 tonnes/year; (b) If all swine wastewater generated in North Carolina was treated with algae, it will require 137-485 acres of ponds, yielding biomass of 5048-10,468 tonnes/year and algal oil of 1010-2094 tonnes/year. Annually, hundreds of tonnes of nitrogen and phosphorus could be removed from swine wastewater. The required area is mainly dependent on the growth rate of algal species.

Catalytic Conversion of Chlamydomonas to Hydrocarbons via the Ethanol-Assisted Liquefaction and Hydrotreating Processes

“…Microalgal Strain and Cultivation Conditions. Chlamydomonas sp., which was originally isolated from the local wastewater lagoon, 20,21 was grown in 300 L micro-open race way ponds for 15−30 days with commercial fertilizers during the summer of 2016. Microalgae were harvested by a series of operations including settling, siphon, and centrifugation.…”

The Importance and Prospects of the Use of Algae in Agribusiness

“…A very promising option can be both the direct and indirect use of algae biomass in agricultural production, which may significantly affect the development of low-carbon agriculture. Not only socio-economic benefits, but also many advantages for the environment and ecosystems are important in the investigated problem area [10][11][12][13][14][15], and sustainable production is one of the critical barriers in algal research [16].…”

Evaluation of Scenedesmus rubescens for Lipid Production from Swine Wastewater Blended with Municipal Wastewater

“…Swine waste treatment has become increasingly necessary, as swine production has increased [9]. In Korea, more than 32 million tons of swine wastewater were generated in 2015 [10].…”