1. AlgaePARC biorefinery
René Wijffels, Michel Eppink, Maria Barbosa
@ReneWijffels

2. Contents Technical and economical feasibility Process Photobioreactors
Lipids
Biorefinery
Projects
AlgaePARC
AlgaePARC biorefinery
SPLASH
FUEL4ME
MIRACLES

3. Can algae replace commodities of today?
European market:
Fossil fuels: Mtonnes/year
Polymers and chemicals: 100 Mtonnes/year
Palm oil: Mtonnes/year
Soy: Mtonnes/year
Global microalgae market today:
< 10,000 tonnes/year

4. Develop this process is a sustainable and economical way within the next 10 -15 years
To develop a more sustainable and economically feasible process, all biomass components should be used

5. From basic to applied research
Resources
Efficient use of sunlight
Reduction of energy input
Use of residual nutrients
Strains
Lipid accumulation
Metabolic Engineering
Implementation
Scale-up
Biorefinery
Design scenarios/LCA’s

6. Photobioreactor design

7. Antenna size mutants Wild type cells
Cells oversaturated: heat dissipation
Antenna size mutants
Light-saturation at higher light intensity
Less energy wasted.
Tim de Mooij
Turbidostat

8. Behaviour during day/night cycles
Lenneke de Winter
The aim of this research is to obtain more knowledge in the circadian behaviour of the cell cycle of lipid producing microalgae grown in photobioreactors. This will provide ways to optimize the current production process under outdoor day/night cycles.
Neochloris oleoabundans is grown in a lab-scale photobioreactor under simulated outdoor conditions.
The circadian rhythm of the cell cycle is analysed using flow cytometry.
In addition, cell composition (lipids, starch, proteins) during the cell cycle is investigated.

9. Lipids e e e e e

10. Lipid accumulation N- N+
Nauwelijks TAG onder groeicondities zonder stikstof limitatie
Alle algen hopen TAG op maar sommige niet veel
6 algen hopen veel vet op, en 4 zelfs meer dan 35% TAG
Hoeveelheid functionele vetten (vetzuren) neemt af onder stikstof limitatie
Breuer G., Lamers P.P. , Martens D.E. , Draaisma R.B., Wijffels R.H. (2012) The impact of nitrogen starvation on the dynamics of triacylglycerol accumulation in nine microalgae strains. Bioresource Technology 124:

11. Genetic engineering Lipids
Strain improvement towards a desired fatty acid profile
Strain improvement towards a increased TAG production
Hydrocarbons
Botryococcus
Insert Botryococcus genes for hydrocarbons in Chlamydomonas
Mutagenesis and direct gene targeting approaches
Transcriptomics to obtain insight in regulation
Stefan Aanstoot
Lenny de Jaeger

12. TAG production: process optimization
Breuer et al. 2013

13. Continuous TAG production
Different light:N ratios
Anne Klok
NO3
N- medium
Klok et al. 2013

14. Richard Postma Proteins from Green Sources
Development of a mild, continuous, scalable disruption and protein extraction technology with minimal energy requirements
Soluble
Insoluble
Disruption
Bead-milling (reference method)
Enzymatic
Pulsed Electronic Field
Extraction
Ionic liquid
Polymer precipitation
Ultrafiltration

15. AlgaePARC Basic research is not sufficient
Gap between basic research and commercial applications
Continuous interaction between basic research and pilots
Follow up in
demonstrations
Products
Scale
Production chain

16. AlgaePARC International centre of applied research
Intermediate between basic research and applications
Development of competitive technology (economics, sustainability)
Acquire information for full
scale plants
Algal biomass for food, feed, chemicals and fuels

17. Scenario: Lipids + Biogas energy
Scenedesmus: €600/T
Cost of production: €500/T

18. Scenario: Lipid & protein biorefinery
Nannochloropsis: €8,000/T
Cost of production: €500/T

19. AlgaePARC biorefinery
Fractionate all components
Maintain their functionality
At low energy input

20. EU-FP7 projects INTESUSAL: demonstration project Portugal
ALGADISK: biofilmreactor; pilot Spain
FUEL4ME: biofuel project with pilots in Israël, Italy, Spain and Netherlands
SPLASH: biomaterials project with pilots in Spain and Netherlands
MIRACLES: biorefinery project for food and feed applications with pilots in Norway, Chile, Netherlands and Spain

21. Education Primary school High schools
Design challenge and practical kit
BSc
Physiology and process design
MSc
Bioreactor design
PhD
Designing of microalgae-based production processes, for research and commercial purposes
Next edition: June 2014

22. Algae for commodities
Demonstrate that biobased products have the quality to replace existing products
Convince we can produce economically in the future
Imagine we can reach the right market volumes
Create awareness: it is not
going to be easy
Join forces
Create a long term commitment

23.
@ReneWijffels