PRODUCTION OF ALGAL OIL

BE 4380Kira Bartlett & Cassidy Laird

INTRODUCTION

• Algae as Feedstock– Normally food supplements

• Need better Energy Resources– Algal conversion of solar energy • Harvestable Form• More efficient

• Carbon Neutral Process

PROCESS DESIGN

Annual Biomass Production: 275,000 MT

Annual Algal Oil Production: 65,000 MT

SONICATOR

• High Pressure Homogenization• Disrupts algae cells to release the lipids

100 Biomass 7 ASH + 42.2 Cell Debris + 0.8 NHP + 4 PL + 4 Proteins + 26 TAG

CENTRIFUGATIONComponent separation based on densityCentrifugal/Centripetal force in radial direction

DECANTER CENTRIFUGE

DISK STACK CENTRIFUGE

• Separates TAG and other lipids from stream• Alter rotational velocity, efficiency, etc.• Balance with cost and power

HEXANE EXTRACTION

• Extracts remnants of lipids

• Balanced stoichiometric equations– Difficult to alter process

ECONOMIC EVALUATION

• Startup Costs: $305,344,000 YEARLY EVALUATION• Operating Cost: 98,723,849– Initial Operating Cost: $111,793,000– Savings: $13,069,377

• Revenues: $126,603,051• Profits: $13,069,378

Break Even Point: 6.94 yrs

ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED

• Type of Algae

• Methods of lipid extraction

• Parameters on disk-stack centrifuge

CONCLUSIONS

• Working facility to produce Algal Oil– Used for generation of clean energy

• Creates other Valuable Products– Proteins for Animal Feed– Electrical Energy Produced

• Reduces & Reuses Waste Products– Organic & Aqueous Wastes– Low Emissions– Less Bulk Materials needed

REFERENCESAlfa Laval. Inflatable dam for a decanter centrifuge. US Application No. 92 904 608.2 Alfa Laval Corporate AB. Disk stack separator technology. PDF.  Ashokkumar, V., Z. Salam, P. Sathishkumar, T. Hadibarata, A. Yusoff, F. Ani. Exploration of fast growing Botryococcus sudeticus for upstream and downstream process in sustainable biofuels production. Journal of Cleaner Production 92(1): 162-167.  Demirbas, A., M.F. Demirbas. Importance of algae oil as a source of biodiesel. Energy Conservation and Management 52(1): 163-170.  Kiran, B., R. Kumar, D. Deshmukh. Perspectives of microalgal biofuels as a renewable source of energy. Energy Conservation and Management 88: 1228-1244.  Intelligen, Inc. Algal Oil Production: Modeling and Evaluation Using SuperPro Designer. Intelligen: 1-26. Samarasinghe, N., S. Fernando, R. Lacey, W.B. Faulkner. Algal cell rupture using high pressure homogenization as a prelude to oil extraction. Renewable Energy (48): 300-308. Sheehan, J., T. Dunahay, J. Benemann, P. Roessler. A Look Back at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Aquatic Species Program – Biodiesel from Algae. National Renewable Energy Laboratory: 2-8. Shenglei, B., D. Fengguang, S. Peiyong, et al. 2014. Oil extraction method of heterotrophic chlorella. Application No. CN2014194147 20140314 Sudhakar, K., M. Premalatha, K. Sudharshan. 2012. Energy Balance and Exergy Analysis of large scale algal biomass production. The 2nd Korea-Indonesia Workshop & International Symposium of Bioenergy from Biomass: 66-69.