System and method for research-scale outdoor production of microalgae and cyanobacteria

Schoepp, Nathan G.; Stewart, Ryan L.; Sun, Vincent; Quigley, Alexandra J.; Mendola, Dominick; Mayfield, Stephen P.; Burkart, Michael D.

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2014.05.046

Cited by 61 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…There are previous reports using outdoor cultures of some microalgae species at different world latitudes, some authors developed different culture systems such flask bioreactors, bag columns and outdoor raceways (Becerra-Dórame et al 2010;Bazaes et al 2012;Moheimani 2013;Schoepp et al 2014). Other studies of outdoor cultures from different microalgae species in the Mediterranean area were measured over shorts time periods (Rodolfi et al 2009) and/or avoiding the summer (Sánchez-Mirón et al 2003;Fuentes-Grünewald et al 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Due to this, diverse bioreactors have been developed for growing/handling microalgae cultures on different scales (Fuentes-Grünewald et al 2011;El-Sheekh et al 2013). Within these options, the closed systems are considered as the most suitable reactors to grow some microalgae species, allowing the protection of the cultures from external invasive organisms and bettercontrolled conditions for the growing and harvesting operations (Schoepp et al 2014). Furthermore, the use of closed bioreactors for microalgae cultures allows reaching higher productivity yields, also the generated biomass shows convenient properties for its further use as biodiesel source; as an inconvenient, the costs for building and operating are elevated when comparing with the open systems (BecerraDórame et al 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Otherwise, for successfully microalgal outdoor cultures is necessary the screening of different species, searching for some specific characteristics such as the resistance to external contamination, tolerance to variations on the culture conditions (irradiance and temperature changes), rapid CO 2 uptake and tolerance to shear force (Griffiths et al 2012). Various oil-rich microalgae have been suggested as potential sources of renewable energy under outdoor conditions, such as Arthrospira, Botryococcus braunii, Chaetoceros, Chlorella, Dunaliella, Haematococcus, Isocrysis, Karlodinium veneficum, Nannochloropsis, Porphyridium, Scenedesmus and Tetraselmis (Rodolfi et al 2009;Bazaes et al 2012;Fuentes-Grüne-wald et al 2012;Schoepp et al 2014). On the other hand, there are some oleaginous microalgae that are not able to grow under outdoor conditions or present limited growth characteristics, because the conditions of light and temperature may be too harsh to survive or being productive (Bazaes et al 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Effects of outdoor cultures on the growth and lipid production of Phaeodactylum tricornutum using closed photobioreactors

Santos-Ballardo

Rendón-Unceta

Rossi

et al. 2016

World J Microbiol Biotechnol

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One of the principal challenges for large scale production of microalgae is the high costs of biomass production. Aiming for minimize this problem, microalgal biodiesel production should focus on outdoors cultures, using available solar light and allowing lower energy cost process. Testing species that proved to be common and easy to culture may be a good approach in this process. The present work reports indoor-outdoor cultures of Phaeodactylum tricornutum using different bioreactors types, using cell growth, biochemical composition, and the profiles of the fatty acids produced as the parameters to test the optimization processes. The results show that the use of outdoor cultures is a good choice to obtain P. tricornutum biomass with a good potential for biodiesel production. The microalgae produced reached better growth efficiency, major lipid content and showed an increment in the percentage of saturated fatty acids (required on the biodiesel production) respect indoor cultures. These results are important to show the relevance of using outdoor cultures as a way to improve the efficiency and the energetic balance of the biodiesel production with P. tricornutum algae.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Effects of outdoor cultures on the growth and lipid production of Phaeodactylum tricornutum using closed photobioreactors

Santos-Ballardo

Rendón-Unceta

Rossi

et al. 2016

World J Microbiol Biotechnol

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show abstract

“…As per EPA request, all ponds were covered with bird netting. During scale-up, strains were cultured in minimal medium (MHSM1) containing 25 mM NaHCO 3 , 1.0 mM K 2 HPO 4 , 9.3 mM NaNO 3 , 0.08 mM MgSO 4 ·7H 2 O, 0.07 mM CaCl 2 ·2H 2 O, and trace nutrients [27,28]. Deionized water was used for greenhouse growth.…”

Section: Growth and Phenotype Evaluation 221 Culture Scale-up And mentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of phenotype stability and ecological risk of a genetically engineered alga in open pond production

Szyjka¹,

Mandal

Schoepp

et al. 2017

Algal Research

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A B S T R A C TGenetically engineered (GE) algae offer the promise of producing food, fuel, and other valuable products with reduced requirements for land and fresh water. While the gains in productivity measured in GE terrestrial crops are predicted to be mirrored in GE algae, the stability of phenotypes and ecological risks posed by GE algae in large-scale outdoor cultivation remain unknown. Here, we describe the first US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-sanctioned experiment aimed at understanding how GE algae perform in outdoor cultivation. Acutodesmus dimorphus was genetically engineered by the addition of two genes, one for enhanced fatty acid biosynthesis, and one for recombinant green fluorescence protein (GFP) expression; both the genes and their associated phenotypes were maintained during fifty days of outdoor cultivation. We also observed that while the GE algae dispersed from the cultivation ponds, colonization of the trap ponds by the GE strain declined rapidly with increasing distance from the source cultivation ponds. In contrast, many species of indigenous algae were found in every trap pond within a few days of starting the experiment. When inoculated in water from five local lakes, the GE algae's effect on biodiversity, species composition, and biomass of native algae was indiscernible from those of the wild-type (wt) progenitor algae, and neither the GE nor wt algae were able to outcompete native strains. We conclude that GE algae can be successfully cultivated outdoors while maintaining GE traits, and that for the specific GE algal strain tested here they did not outcompete or adversely impact native algae populations when grown in water taken from local lakes. This study provides an initial evaluation of GE algae in outdoor cultivation and a framework to evaluate GE algae risks associated with outdoor GE algae production.

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“…Chlamydomonas reinhardtii has long served as a genetic and metabolomics model alga, and a photosynthetic bio-factory for recombinant proteins [12,13]. Outside of the laboratory, Scenedesmus dimorphus has proven an immensely promising bioproducts strain due to its high tolerance of both abiotic and biotic stresses [14]. Scenedesmus sp.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rapid estimation of protein, lipid, and dry weight in microalgae using a portable LED fluorometer

et al. 2015

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a b s t r a c tAs the industry surrounding microalgae continues to develop, there is a growing need for reliable, ready-to-use technologies for measuring the growth and composition of algal cultures. These can be new technologies or adapted existing technologies presently used for similar applications in other systems. Here we demonstrate the use of an LED fluorometer for the rapid estimation of dry weight, protein, and lipid content from two strains of microalgae. The instrument was successfully used to determine the dry weight of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (CC-3491) and Scenedesmus dimorphus (UTEX 1237) cultures, at densities up to 1.58 g/L. Soluble protein was also measured using the instrument, and was highly comparable (average within 3%) to results obtained using both the Bradford and Lowry methods. Lastly, neutral lipid accumulation induced by nitrogen starvation was estimated via BODIPY 495/505 fluorescence. The basic methods developed here can easily be applied to any strain of microalgae or cyanobacteria, and demonstrate reliable, cost-effective, single-instrument methods for the determination of several key parameters in the cultivation of photosynthetic microorganisms.

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System and method for research-scale outdoor production of microalgae and cyanobacteria

Cited by 61 publications

References 31 publications

Effects of outdoor cultures on the growth and lipid production of Phaeodactylum tricornutum using closed photobioreactors

Effects of outdoor cultures on the growth and lipid production of Phaeodactylum tricornutum using closed photobioreactors

Evaluation of phenotype stability and ecological risk of a genetically engineered alga in open pond production

Rapid estimation of protein, lipid, and dry weight in microalgae using a portable LED fluorometer

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