Department of Biological Systems Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 2010 Jan;85(3):525-34. doi: 10.1007/s00253-009-2133-2. Epub 2009 Jul 28.
Algal biofuel production has gained a renewed interest in recent years but is still not economically feasible due to several limitations related to algal culture. The objective of this study is to explore a novel attached culture system for growing the alga Chlorella sp. as biodiesel feedstock, with dairy manure wastewater being used as growth medium. Among supporting materials tested for algal attachment, polystyrene foam led to a firm attachment, high biomass yield (25.65 g/m(2), dry basis), and high fatty acid yield (2.31 g/m(2)). The biomass attached on the supporting material surface was harvested by scraping; the residual colonies left on the surface served as inoculum for regrowth. The algae regrowth on the colony-established surface resulted in a higher biomass yield than that from the initial growth on fresh surface due to the downtime saved for initial algal attachment. The 10-day regrowth culture resulted in a high biodiesel production potential with a fatty acid methyl esters yield of 2.59 g/m(2) and a productivity of 0.26 g/m(-2) day(-1). The attached algal culture also removed 61-79% total nitrogen and 62-93% total phosphorus from dairy manure wastewater, depending on different culture conditions. The biomass harvested from the attached growth system (through scraping) had a water content of 93.75%, similar to that harvested from suspended culture system (through centrifugation). Collectively, the attached algal culture system with polystyrene foam as a supporting material demonstrated a good performance in terms of biomass yield, biodiesel production potential, ease to harvest biomass, and physical robustness for reuse.
近年来，藻类生物燃料的生产再次引起了人们的兴趣，但由于与藻类培养相关的一些限制，其仍然不具有经济可行性。本研究的目的是探索一种新颖的附着培养系统，用于生长藻类小球藻作为生物柴油原料，以奶牛粪废水作为生长介质。在测试的支持材料中，聚苯乙烯泡沫导致了牢固的附着、高生物质产量（25.65 g/m²，干重）和高脂肪酸产量（2.31 g/m²）。通过刮擦收获附着在支撑材料表面的生物质；表面残留的菌落作为再生长的接种物。由于节省了初始藻类附着的时间，在已建立的菌落表面上藻类的再生长导致了比在新鲜表面上初始生长更高的生物质产量。10 天的再生长培养产生了高的生物柴油生产潜力，脂肪酸甲酯的产率为 2.59 g/m²，生产力为 0.26 g/（m²·天）。附着藻类培养还去除了奶牛粪废水中 61-79%的总氮和 62-93%的总磷，具体取决于不同的培养条件。从附着生长系统（通过刮擦）收获的生物质的含水量为 93.75%，与从悬浮培养系统（通过离心）收获的生物质的含水量相似。总体而言，以聚苯乙烯泡沫为支撑材料的附着藻类培养系统在生物质产量、生物柴油生产潜力、易于收获生物质和重复使用的物理稳定性方面表现出良好的性能。
