Anaerobic Storage and Conversion of Microalgal Biomass to Manage Seasonal Variation in Cultivation
Abstract
Seasonal variation in microalgal biomass production is a well-known challenge when optimizing economics for algal fuel conversion, especially given the fluctuation in biomass production between winter and summer. Wet storage offers significant potential for cost and energy savings compared to dewatering and dry storage. This study demonstrates the feasibility of preserving harvested Scenedesmus acutus biomass through wet anaerobic storage for use in biochemical conversion. Anaerobic storage effectively preserved biomass with minimal degradation of carbohydrates and preservation of lipids and proteins. Screening experiments identified optimal pretreatment conditions for stored biomass. Scale-up of pretreatment enabled fermentation of the hydrolysate to butyric acid and indicated no observable difference in conversion between unstored and stored biomass. Lipid extraction improved by a relative 12% for stored biomass. These results suggest that wet anaerobic storage can effectively manage seasonal variation in biomass production and is compatible with biochemical approaches for biofuel production.
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Combinations of hexane with alcohols such as ethanol and isopropanol have the potential to more selectively extract hydrophobic lipids while maintaining high extraction yields.
“Combinations of hexane with alcohols, such as ethanol and isopropanol, have the potential to more selectively extract hydrophobic lipids while maintaining high extraction yields of these components (31, 39, 40).”
From Catalytic Hydroprocessing of Single-Cell Oils to Hydrocarbon Fuels: Converting microbial lipids to fuels is a promising approach to replace fossil fuels (2021) · cites this paper as [39]
Modification of solvent polarity (e.g., mixing hexane with ethanol or isopropanol) is necessary for high lipid recovery.
“In many cases, modification of solvent polarity (for example employing a mix of hexane with ethanol or isopropanol) is necessary for high lipid recovery (35-39).”
From Catalytic Hydroprocessing of Single-Cell Oils to Hydrocarbon Fuels: Converting microbial lipids to fuels is a promising approach to replace fossil fuels (2021) · cites this paper as [39]
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- Authors
- Wendt, L. M., Wahlen, B. D., Knoshaug, E. P., Nagle, N. J., Dong, T., Spiller, R., Panczak, B., Van Wychen, S., Dempster, T. A., Gerken, H., & Pienkos, P. T.
- Affiliations
- Idaho National Laboratory (US)
- National Laboratory of the Rockies (US)
- Renewable Resources and Enabling Sciences Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado 80401, United States
- Santa Fe Community College (US)
- Arizona State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Wendt, Lynn M.
- Venue
- ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Published
- 2020-07-31
- Volume
- 8
- Issue
- 35
- Pages
- 13310-13317
- ISSN
- 2168-0485 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3046436023
- Cited by
- 17
- References
- 33
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 0.54
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering (publishedVersion)
- OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (DE-AC07-05ID14517)
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory (DE-AC36-08GO28308)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › Algal biology and biofuel production
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Biofuel production and bioconversion
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Building and Construction › Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Production
- Keywords
- microalgal biomass, anaerobic storage, wet storage, seasonal variation, Scenedesmus acutus, biochemical conversion, pretreatment, butyric acid fermentation, lipid extraction, biofuel production
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