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Marangon BB, Calijuri ML, Castro JDS, Assemany PP. A life cycle assessment of energy recovery using briquette from wastewater grown microalgae biomass. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2021; 285:112171. [PMID: 33609975 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.112171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2020] [Revised: 01/07/2021] [Accepted: 02/07/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Microalgae biomass (MB) is a promising source of renewable energy, especially when the cultivation is associated with wastewater treatment. However, microalgae wastewater technologies still have much to improve. Additionally, microalgae biomass valorization routes need to be optimized to be a sustainable and feasible source of green bioenergy. Thus, this paper aimed to evaluate the environmental impacts of the production of briquettes from MB, cultivated during domestic wastewater treatment. Also, it was evaluated how much the drying of the MB affected the life cycle and the environment. Improvements in the life cycle to mitigate the environmental impacts of this energy route were proposed. Cradle-to-gate modeling was applied to obtain a life cycle assessment (LCA) from cultivation to the valorization of MB, through its transformation into a solid biofuel. With LCA, it was possible to identify which technical aspect of the process needs to be optimized so that environmental sustainability can be achieved. Two scenarios were compared, one with the microalgae growth in a high-rate algal pond (HRAP) (scenario 1) and the other in a hybrid reactor, formed by a HRAP and a biofilm reactor (BR) (scenario 2). LCA highlighted the electric power mix, representing, on average, 60% of the total environmental impacts in both scenarios. The valorization of MB in briquettes needs to consume less energy to offset its yield. The environment suffered pressure in freshwater eutrophication, due to the release of 3.1E-05 and 3.9E-05 kg of phosphorus equivalent; in fossil resources scarcity, with the extraction of 1.4E-02 and 4.5E-02 kg of oil equivalent; and in climate change, by the emission of 1.0E-01 and 1.9E-01 kg of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent, in scenarios 1 and 2, respectively. Scenario 1 was highly damaging to terrestrial ecotoxicity, with the release of 3.5E-01 kg of 1,4 Dichlorobenzene, coming from the CO2 used in MB growth. This category was the one that most negatively pressured the environment, differing from scenario 2, in which this input was not required. This was the only impact category in which scenario 2 had a better environmental performance when compared to scenario 1. Cotton, required in scenario 2, represented up to 87% of emissions in some of the evaluated categories. Despite the impacts that occurred in the two modeled scenarios, the environmental gains due to the use of wastewater for microalgae growth, replacing the synthetic cultivation medium, stood out. In the sensitivity analysis, two alternative scenarios were proposed: (i) electricity consumption for drying has been reduced, due to the natural decrease of MB humidity, and (ii) MB briquettes were considered a substitute for coal briquettes. Results indicated that pressures on climate change and fossil resource scarcity were eliminated in both scenarios and this also occurred for freshwater eutrophication in scenario 2. This paper contributes to the improvement and development of converting MB routes into more sustainable products, causing less pressure on the environment. Also, the study contributes to filling a gap in the literature, discussing methods and technologies to be improved, and consequently making microalgae biotechnology environmentally feasible and a potential renewable energy alternative.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bianca Barros Marangon
- Department of Civil Engineering, Federal University of Viçosa, Av. Peter Henry Rolfs, S/n, Campus Universitário, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, 36570-900, Brazil.
| | - Maria Lúcia Calijuri
- Department of Civil Engineering, Federal University of Viçosa, Av. Peter Henry Rolfs, S/n, Campus Universitário, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, 36570-900, Brazil.
| | - Jackeline de Siqueira Castro
- Department of Civil Engineering, Federal University of Viçosa, Av. Peter Henry Rolfs, S/n, Campus Universitário, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, 36570-900, Brazil.
| | - Paula Peixoto Assemany
- Department of Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Lavras, Campus Universitario, 37200-000, Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
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Figueroa-Torres GM, Pittman JK, Theodoropoulos C. Optimisation of microalgal cultivation via nutrient-enhanced strategies: the biorefinery paradigm. BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR BIOFUELS 2021; 14:64. [PMID: 33706804 PMCID: PMC7953610 DOI: 10.1186/s13068-021-01912-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2020] [Accepted: 02/21/2021] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The production of microalgal biofuels, despite their sustainable and renowned potential, is not yet cost-effective compared to current conventional fuel technologies. However, the biorefinery concept increases the prospects of microalgal biomass as an economically viable feedstock suitable for the co-production of multiple biofuels along with value-added chemicals. To integrate biofuels production within the framework of a microalgae biorefinery, it is not only necessary to exploit multi-product platforms, but also to identify optimal microalgal cultivation strategies maximising the microalgal metabolites from which biofuels are obtained: starch and lipids. Whilst nutrient limitation is widely known for increasing starch and lipid formation, this cultivation strategy can greatly reduce microalgal growth. This work presents an optimisation framework combining predictive modelling and experimental methodologies to effectively simulate and predict microalgal growth dynamics and identify optimal cultivation strategies. RESULTS Microalgal cultivation strategies for maximised starch and lipid formation were successfully established by developing a multi-parametric kinetic model suitable for the prediction of mixotrophic microalgal growth dynamics co-limited by nitrogen and phosphorus. The model's high predictive capacity was experimentally validated against various datasets obtained from laboratory-scale cultures of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii CCAP 11/32C subject to different initial nutrient regimes. The identified model-based optimal cultivation strategies were further validated experimentally and yielded significant increases in starch (+ 270%) and lipid (+ 74%) production against a non-optimised strategy. CONCLUSIONS The optimised microalgal cultivation scenarios for maximised starch and lipids, as identified by the kinetic model presented here, highlight the benefits of exploiting modelling frameworks as optimisation tools that facilitate the development and commercialisation of microalgae-to-fuel technologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gonzalo M Figueroa-Torres
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science, Biochemical and Bioprocess Engineering Group, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
| | - Jon K Pittman
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
| | - Constantinos Theodoropoulos
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science, Biochemical and Bioprocess Engineering Group, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK.
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Chakdar H, Hasan M, Pabbi S, Nevalainen H, Shukla P. High-throughput proteomics and metabolomic studies guide re-engineering of metabolic pathways in eukaryotic microalgae: A review. BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY 2021; 321:124495. [PMID: 33307484 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2020.124495] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2020] [Revised: 11/24/2020] [Accepted: 11/28/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Eukaryotic microalgae are a rich source of commercially important metabolites including lipids, pigments, sugars, amino acids and enzymes. However, their inherent genetic potential is usually not enough to support high level production of metabolites of interest. In order to move on from the traditional approach of improving product yields by modification of the cultivation conditions, understanding the metabolic pathways leading to the synthesis of the bioproducts of interest is crucial. Identification of new targets for strain engineering has been greatly facilitated by the rapid development of high-throughput sequencing and spectroscopic techniques discussed in this review. Despite the availability of high throughput analytical tools, examples of gathering and application of proteomic and metabolomic data for metabolic engineering of microalgae are few and mainly limited to lipid production. The present review highlights the application of contemporary proteomic and metabolomic techniques in eukaryotic microalgae for redesigning pathways for enhanced production of algal metabolites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hillol Chakdar
- ICAR-National Bureau of Agriculturally Important Microorganisms (NBAIM), Maunath Bhanjan, Uttar Pradesh 275103, India
| | - Mafruha Hasan
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Sunil Pabbi
- Centre for Conservation and Utilisation of Blue Green Algae (CCUBGA), Division of Microbiology, ICAR - Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110 012
| | - Helena Nevalainen
- Department of Molecular Sciences, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia; Biomolecular Discovery and Design Research Centre, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
| | - Pratyoosh Shukla
- Enzyme Technology and Protein Bioinformatics Laboratory, Department of Microbiology, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak 124001, Haryana, India; School of Biotechnology, Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221005, India.
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Kumar A. Current and Future Perspective of Microalgae for Simultaneous Wastewater Treatment and Feedstock for Biofuels Production. CHEMISTRY AFRICA 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s42250-020-00221-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
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Foo SC, Khoo KS, Ooi CW, Show PL, Khong NMH, Yusoff FM. Meeting Sustainable Development Goals: Alternative Extraction Processes for Fucoxanthin in Algae. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2021; 8:546067. [PMID: 33553111 PMCID: PMC7863972 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2020.546067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2020] [Accepted: 11/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
The ever-expanding human population puts tremendous pressure on global food security. With climate change threats lowering crop productivity and food nutritional quality, it is important to search for alternative and sustainable food sources. Microalgae are a promising carbon-neutral biomass with fast growth rate and do not compete with terrestrial crops for land use. More so, microalgae synthesize exclusive marine carotenoids shown to not only exert antioxidant activities but also anti-cancer properties. Unfortunately, the conventional method for fucoxanthin extraction is mainly based on solvent extraction, which is cheap but less environmentally friendly. With the emergence of greener extraction techniques, the extraction of fucoxanthin could adopt these strategies aligned to UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This is a timely review with a focus on existing fucoxanthin extraction processes, complemented with future outlook on the potential and limitations in alternative fucoxanthin extraction technologies. This review will serve as an important guide to the sustainable and environmentally friendly extraction of fucoxanthin and other carotenoids including but not limited to astaxanthin, lutein or zeaxanthin. This is aligned to the SDGs wherein it is envisaged that this review becomes an antecedent to further research work in extract standardization with the goal of meeting quality control and quality assurance benchmarks for future commercialization purposes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Su Chern Foo
- School of Science, Monash University Malaysia, Subang Jaya, Malaysia
| | - Kuan Shiong Khoo
- Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Semenyih, Malaysia
| | - Chien Wei Ooi
- School of Engineering, Monash University Malaysia, Subang Jaya, Malaysia
| | - Pau Loke Show
- Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Semenyih, Malaysia
| | | | - Fatimah Md Yusoff
- Department of Aquaculture, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia
- International Institute of Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences (I-AQUAS), Universiti Putra Malaysia, Port Dickson, Malaysia
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Sorokina KN, Samoylova YV, Gromov NV, Ogorodnikova OL, Parmon VN. Production of biodiesel and succinic acid from the biomass of the microalga Micractinium sp. IC-44. BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY 2020; 317:124026. [PMID: 32866839 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2020.124026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2020] [Revised: 08/12/2020] [Accepted: 08/13/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
In this study, a combined approach to produce fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) and succinic acid from the biomass of the microalga Micractinium sp. IC-44 using ionic liquids (ILs) was presented. After 22 days of cultivation, the biomass productivity was 0.034 ± 0.001 g L-1day-1, and the lipid content was 11.5 ± 0.5%. Direct biomass transesterification using H2SO4 in the presence of IL [BMIM][HSO4] resulted in a FAME yield of 42.0 ± 4.3%, which exceeded the yields obtained after transesterification of extracted lipids (20.5 ± 3.5% using ILs and 27.1 ± 2.4% using methanol/chloroform) and direct biomass transesterification without using ILs (31.6 ± 1.7%). The residual biomass obtained after direct transesterification using ILs was subjected to acid hydrolysis (sugar yield was 81.1 ± 2.4%). The purified hydrolysate was fermented using Actinobacillus succinogenes 130Z to obtain a succinic acid yield of 0.67 g g-1 of fermentable sugars. Therefore, this study demonstrated the successful conversion of the Micractinium sp. IC-44 biomass into biodiesel and succinic acid.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ksenia N Sorokina
- Boreskov Institute of Catalysis, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, prosp. Lavrentieva, 5, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia.
| | - Yuliya V Samoylova
- Boreskov Institute of Catalysis, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, prosp. Lavrentieva, 5, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - Nikolay V Gromov
- Boreskov Institute of Catalysis, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, prosp. Lavrentieva, 5, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - Olga L Ogorodnikova
- Boreskov Institute of Catalysis, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, prosp. Lavrentieva, 5, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - Valentin N Parmon
- Boreskov Institute of Catalysis, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, prosp. Lavrentieva, 5, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia
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Abstract
As the demand for biofuels increases globally, microalgae offer a viable biomass feedstock to produce biofuel. With abundant sources of biomass in rural communities, these materials could be converted to biodiesel. Efforts are being done in order to pursue commercialization. However, its main usage is for other applications such as pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and aquaculture, which has a high return of investment. In the last 5 decades of algal research, cultivation to genetically engineered algae have been pursued in order to push algal biofuel commercialization. This will be beneficial to society, especially if coupled with a good government policy of algal biofuels and other by-products. Algal technology is a disruptive but complementary technology that will provide sustainability with regard to the world’s current issues. Commercialization of algal fuel is still a bottleneck and a challenge. Having a large production is technical feasible, but it is not economical as of now. Efforts for the cultivation and production of bio-oil are still ongoing and will continue to develop over time. The life cycle assessment methodology allows for a sustainable evaluation of the production of microalgae biomass to biodiesel.
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Slegers PM, Olivieri G, Breitmayer E, Sijtsma L, Eppink MHM, Wijffels RH, Reith JH. Design of Value Chains for Microalgal Biorefinery at Industrial Scale: Process Integration and Techno-Economic Analysis. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2020; 8:550758. [PMID: 33015014 PMCID: PMC7510460 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2020.550758] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2020] [Accepted: 08/14/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The objective of this work was to identify industrial scenarios for the most promising microalgal biorefinery value chains on the basis of product selection, yields, and techno-economic performance, using biological characteristics of algae species. The development, value creation, and validation of several new processing routes with applications in food, aquafeeds and non-food products were particularly considered in this work. The techno-economic performance of various single product value chains (SP) and multiproduct value chains (MP) was evaluated for four industrial microalgal strains. Cost-revenue optimization was done for a 10 kton microalgal dry weight y-1 simulated biorefinery plant, using flow sheeting software for equipment sizing, mass and energy flow modeling, and subsequent techno-economic evaluation. Data on yield, material and energy consumption were based on pre- and pilot size production plants (TRL 5-6). Revenue optimization was accomplished by first analyzing the performance of single product value chains of the microalgal strains. Subsequently, a strategy was developed to exploit almost all biomass based on the most promising microalgal strains. The cultivation costs are most of the time the major costs of the value chains. For the single product value chains common process bottlenecks are low product yields, especially for soluble proteins where only a small fraction of the biomass is leading to economic value. The biorefinery costs (excluding cultivation) vary significantly for various species, due to the species-specific operating conditions as well as differences in product yields. For the evaluated single product value chain scenarios the costs for utilities and other inputs were in general the highest contributing expenses. A biorefinery approach significantly increases the biomass utilization potential to marketable products from 7-28% to more than 97%. Although the cascading approach increases the total production costs of the multiproduct value chains significantly, this is more than compensated by the increased overall biomass revenue. For all selected multiproduct chains there is a significant potential to become profitable at a relevant industrial scale of 10 kton per year. Additional insights in the product functionality, quality, and their market size are needed to narrow down the wide range of foreseen product revenues and resulting profits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Petronella M Slegers
- Biobased Chemistry and Technology, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, Netherlands.,Nova-Institute for Ecology and Innovation, Hürth, Germany.,Operations Research and Logistics, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Giuseppe Olivieri
- Bioprocess Engineering - AlgaePARC, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, Netherlands.,Dipartimento di Ingegneria Chimica, dei Materiali e della Produzione Industriale, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy
| | | | - Lolke Sijtsma
- Wageningen Food & Biobased Research, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Michel H M Eppink
- Bioprocess Engineering - AlgaePARC, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Rene H Wijffels
- Bioprocess Engineering - AlgaePARC, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, Netherlands.,Faculty of Biosciences and Aquaculture, Nord University, Bodø, Norway
| | - Johannes H Reith
- Bioprocess Engineering - AlgaePARC, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
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Silva SC, Ferreira ICFR, Dias MM, Barreiro MF. Microalgae-Derived Pigments: A 10-Year Bibliometric Review and Industry and Market Trend Analysis. Molecules 2020; 25:E3406. [PMID: 32731380 PMCID: PMC7435790 DOI: 10.3390/molecules25153406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2020] [Revised: 07/23/2020] [Accepted: 07/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Microalgae productive chains are gaining importance as sustainable alternatives to obtain natural pigments. This work presents a review on the most promising pigments and microalgal sources by gathering trends from a 10-year bibliometric survey, a patents search, and an industrial and market analysis built from available market reports, projects and companies' webpages. The performed analysis pointed out chlorophylls, phycocyanin, astaxanthin, and β-carotene as the most relevant pigments, and Chlorella vulgaris, Spirulina platensis, Haematococcus pluvialis, and Dunaliella salina, respectively, as the most studied sources. Haematococcus is referred in the highest number of patents, corroborating a high technological interest in this microalga. The biorefinery concept, investment in projects and companies related to microalgae cultivation and/or pigment extraction is increasingly growing, particularly, for phycocyanin from Spirulina platensis. These pieces of evidence are a step forward to consolidate the microalgal pigments market, which is expected to grow in the coming years, increasing the prospects of replacing synthetic pigments by natural counterparts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samara C. Silva
- Centro de Investigação de Montanha (CIMO), Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Campus Santa Apolónia, 5300-253 Bragança, Portugal; (S.C.S.); (I.C.F.R.F.)
- Laboratory of Separation and Reaction Engineering—Laboratory of Catalysis and Materials (LSRE-LCM), Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias s/n, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal;
| | - Isabel C. F. R. Ferreira
- Centro de Investigação de Montanha (CIMO), Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Campus Santa Apolónia, 5300-253 Bragança, Portugal; (S.C.S.); (I.C.F.R.F.)
| | - Madalena M. Dias
- Laboratory of Separation and Reaction Engineering—Laboratory of Catalysis and Materials (LSRE-LCM), Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias s/n, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal;
| | - M. Filomena Barreiro
- Centro de Investigação de Montanha (CIMO), Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Campus Santa Apolónia, 5300-253 Bragança, Portugal; (S.C.S.); (I.C.F.R.F.)
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Werlang EB, Julich J, Muller MVG, de Farias Neves F, Sierra-Ibarra E, Martinez A, Schneider RDCDS. Bioethanol from hydrolyzed Spirulina (Arthrospira platensis) biomass using ethanologenic bacteria. BIORESOUR BIOPROCESS 2020. [DOI: 10.1186/s40643-020-00315-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
AbstractPhotosynthetic microorganisms are considered excellent feedstock for biofuel production in developing biomass production technologies. A study was conducted to evaluate ethanol production with the sequential enzymatic saccharification and fermentation of Arthrospira platensis (Spirulina) biomass with the metabolically engineered Escherichia coli strain MS04. A. platensis was cultivated semicontinuously in an open raceway pond, and the carbohydrate content was determined to be as high as 40%. The enzymatic saccharification was designed to release the maximum amount of glucose. After 40 h of enzymatic saccharification, 27 g L−1 of monosaccharides was obtained. These slurries were fermented with ethanologenic bacteria, achieving 12.7 g L−1 ethanol after 9 h of fermentation, which corresponds to 92% conversion yield of the glucose content in the hydrolysate, 0.13 g of ethanol per 1 g of Spirulina biomass and a volumetric productivity of 1.4 g of ethanol L−1 h−1. Therefore, we conclude that it is possible, in a short time, to obtain a high ethanol yield corresponding to 160 L per ton of dry biomass with a high productivity.
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