Wenqiao (Wayne) Yuan 1, ZJ Pei 2 1 Biological and Agricultural Engineering 2 Manufacturing and Industrial System Engineering Kansas State University 1,600 gal acre -1 year -1 3,100 gal acre -1 year -1 6,500 gal acre -1 year -1

 Why algae  Productivity: potentially high  End product: transportation fuels  Scalability: billion-gallon capacity  Problem  Cost: very high - $3,000/dry ton  Acceptable cost: <$300/dry ton  Why?  Open ponds  Low productivity: 2 g/m 2 -day?  Harvesting is a big issue  PBRs?  Construction cost is enormously high  Harvesting is still a problem

Algae Biofuel Manufacturing in the Ocean (CMMI ) (SGER-Exploratory research on solid carriers for manufacturing algae biofuels in the ocean)  Idea for Meeting the Challenge  Algae ocean farming  Why?  “Land”, water, air, sunlight, temperature …  Harvesting/dewatering is “easier”  Approach  Grow algae on/in solid carriers in the ocean  Manufacturing Challenge  What algae species?  What type of solid carrier materials?  What designs of solid carrier?

 Species  Nanochloropsis sp.  Spirulina platensis  Ulva lactuca  Pleutochrysis carterae  Scenedesmus dimorphus  Carrier Materials  Polystyrene  Polyurethane  Polyethylene  Construction fabric  How  Rocking shaker system  Column reactor  Fundamental research needed  Mechanism of attachment?  Self-aggregation mechanism?  Coating?  Electrostatic?  Special membrane or polymer matrix?

(A. Ben-Amotz, 2008)

17.5% 12.5% 20% 50% (Q. Hu and M. Summerfeld, 2008)

 Specific challenge  Algae lipid extraction  Algae biomass residue utilization  Idea for Meeting the Challenge  An integrated algae biomass refinery  Approach  Wet grinding milling for cell disruption  Drum drying and extrusion for flaking  Counter-current solvent extraction  Protein/carbohydrate separation  What is the Manufacturing Challenge  Wet grinding mill  Drum dryer  Flake extrusion equipment  Oil extraction facility Algae Biorefinery