Cultivation of Algae Strains

Like plants, algae use the sunlight for the process of photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is an important biochemical process in which plants, algae, and some bacteria convert the energy of sunlight to chemical energy. Algae capture light energy through photosynthesis and convert inorganic substances into simple sugars using the captured energy.

 The most important parameters regulating algal growth are nutrient quantity and quality, light, pH, turbulence, salinity and temperature. The most optimal parameters as well as the tolerated ranges are species specific. Also, the various factors may be interdependent and a parameter that is optimal for one set of conditions is not necessarily optimal for another.

Algae can be produced using a wide variety of methods, ranging from closely-controlled laboratory methods to less predictable methods in outdoor tanks. The terminology used to describe the type of algal culture include:

Oilgae Digest - If you are keen to know more about the algae fuels industry, have you checked out the Oilgae Digest? It provides precise status information on the algae energy industry and will help you quickly understand the most important aspects of this exciting industry.

· Indoor/Outdoor. Indoor culture is mainly by Photobioreactor which allows control over illumination, temperature, nutrient level, contamination with predators and other competing algae, whereas outdoor algal mostly of raceway pond systems make it very difficult to grow specific algal cultures for extended periods.

· Open/Closed. Open cultures such as uncovered ponds and tanks (indoors or outdoors) are more readily contaminated than closed culture vessels such as tubes, flasks, carboys, bags, etc.closed cultures are usually ponds covered with green house or a photobioreactor.

· Batch, Continuous, and Semi-Continuous. These are the three basic types of Phytoplankton culture.

Batch culture : The batch culture consists of a single inoculation of cells into a container of fertilized seawater followed by a growing period of several days and finally harvesting when the algal population reaches its maximum or near-maximum density.

Continuous culture: The continuous culture method, (i.e. a culture in which a supply of fertilized seawater is continuously pumped into a growth chamber and the excess culture is simultaneously washed out), permits the maintenance of cultures very close to the maximum growth rate.

Semi-continuous culture: The semi-continuous technique prolongs the use of large tank cultures by partial periodic harvesting followed immediately by topping up to the original volume and supplementing with nutrients to achieve the original level of enrichment.

Cultivation of Algae in Open ponds

Cultivation of Algae in Closed ponds
Cultivation of Algae in photobioreactor

Types of Photobioreactors

Related Links:

• Cultivating Algae for Liquid Fuel Production
• Oil Production from Algae - FAO
• Tubular Photobioreactor
• Tubular Photobioreactor - 2
• Greenfuels photobioreactor at M.I.T.
• Photobioreactor using Polyethylene and Chicken Wire
• Varicon Aqua Solutions
• Industrial Size Photobioreactors
• Micro-algal Photobioreactors – Scale-up & Optimization – A Research Report (PDF)
• Scale-up of Tubular Photobioreactors – A Research Report (PDF)
• Photobioreactors for Cultivation of Microalgae Under Strong Irradiances (PDF)
• Qualitative Behaviour of a Phytoplantkton Growth Model in a Photobioreactor (PDF)
• An Industrial Photo-bioreactor for Commercial Production of Algae-based Biodiesel – Arizona Technology Enterprises (PDF)
•  "Algal Culturing Techniques". 2005. A book edited by Robert Andersen
• "Handbook of Microalgal Culture: Biotechnology and Applied Phycology". 2004. Amos Richmond (Ed.)
• Microalgal Culturing - by Ian Probert and Christine Klaas. Online introduction to the topic.
  

The Existing Large-scale Natural Sources for Biodiesel

 The existing large-scale natural sources are of algae are:

 Terrestrial & Aquatic Plants

 Bogs, marshes & swamps - Salt marshes and salt lakes

Swamps & marshes fall into two categories; forested swamps and shrub swamps. Forested swamps are dominated by specific types of trees. They also have other varieties of trees and plants. A shrub swamp has mostly shrubs in it rather than trees. It is the shrub swamp that is usually dominated by algae, apart from grass, reeds, and many types of shrubs.

Sewages & Garbage

• Biodiesel from Sewage, Article & Discussions - SlashDot
• The Power of LeftOvers – Biodiesel from Garbage

Farm Dams & Large Water Reservoirs

Hot springs

• Microbial Life in the Acid Lake & Hot Springs of Costa Rica (PDF)
• Algae in Acid Hot Springs

Rivers, Lagoons, Lakes & Ponds, Puddles etc. – also Saline Lagoons, Saline Lakes & Marshes

• Blue-green Algae in Perth’s Rivers

Snow, Soil, Mud, Sand & Rocks (internal & and on surface)

• Snow Algae – from Australian Antarctic Division
• Ice Algae – from Wikipedia

 Purchasing Algal Strains for Biodiesel

 Some web resources on algal cultures availability for purchase, includes international organizations involved in culture collections:

• www.bio.utexas.edu
• Algal Cultures Collections in Various Countries – from Wikipedia
• Algobank, France
• American Type Culture Collection - ATCC
• Antarctic Protist Culture Collection at Woods Hole. MA, USA
• The Conservation of a Vital European Scientific & Biotechnological Resource: MicroAlgae & Cyanobacteria – COBRA, UK
• International Oceanographic Commission/UNESCO: Harmful Algal Bloom Programme
• CIBNOR Microalgae Culture Collection, La Paz, Mexico
• Coimbra Culture Collection of Algae, Portugal  - ACOI
• Culture Collection at University of Marburg, Germany - Professor H.A.von Stosch collection
• Culture Collection of Algae of Charles University Prague
• Culture Collection of Algae at the University of Cologne, Germany  - CCAC
• Culture Collection of Algal Laboratory, Trebon, Czech Republic
• Culture Collection of Algae and Protozoa
• Culture Collection of Microorganisms from Extreme Environments
• CSIRO Microalgae Research Center, Australia
• Chlamydomonas Genetics Center
• Canadian Center for the Culture of Microorganisms - includes marine algae in NEPCC & Freshwater Algal Collection, UBC
• Dunaliella Culture Collection
• UNESCO-IHP CYANONET: A Global network for the Hazard Management of Cyanobacterial Blooms and Toxins in Water Resources
• World Federation for Culture Collections
• World Data Centre for Microorganisms (WDCM)
• Hawaii Culture Collection
• IAM Culture Collection in Japan
• Loras College Diatom Culture Collection, USA
• National Institute of Environmental Studies, Japan  - NIES
• Marine Biotechnology Institute Culture Collection in Japan - MBIC
• Pasteur Culture Collection of Cyanobacteria, France
• Provasoli-Guillard Culture Collection of Marine Phytoplankton
• Roscoff Culture Collection, France (RCC) http://www.sb-roscoff.fr/Phyto/RCC/index.php
• Sammlung von Algenkulturen, Germany - SAG
• University of Texas Culture Collection of Algae
• University of Toronto Culture Collection of Algae and Cyanobacteria
  

More articles & news on algae cultivation for biodiesel: Visitors may kindly have a look at the Oilgae Blog Directory for relevant blog articles.

Other Related Sections

Blue Green Algae, Red Algae, Green Algae, Marine Algae, String Algae, Pond Algae, Pond Algae Control, Algae Control

Related Blogs

• Bio-flocculation of Algae Research Project @ Newcastle University
• Algae Cultivation, Harvesting Cost Figures from Algae World 2008 Conference
• Detailed Page on Growing Your Own Spirulina
• Biotechnology of algal biomass production: review of outdoor mass culture systems
• Elemental balancing of biomass and medium composition enhances growth capacity in high-density Chlorella vulgaris cultures
• Nitrogen depletion to enhance yield of oil through triglyceride accumulation
• Microalgal Mass Cultures for Co-production of Fine Chemicals and Biofuels & Water Purification
• Cultivating Algae for Liquid Fuel Production
• Effects of Light Intensity on Growth Rates of Green Algae
• Fertiliser Sourcing for Alga Culture - Algae Growth Fertilizers
• Improved Method for Obtaining Axenic Clones of Planktonic Blue-green Algae
• The Nutrient Status of Algal Cells in Continuous Culture Droop
• Rapid Algae Farming Systems from AlgaeVenture Systems
• Sapphire Energy's Method - GM + Open Ponds?

Notes:

• We’d like to regularly add more useful content and web resources to Oilgae.com. Should you know of any good web resource for Biodiesel production from algae, do let us know by sending a note to narsi@esource.in . Many thanks for your patience.
• All content at Oilgae are available for reproduction and usage under the GNU Free Documentation License. Please see explanation at the end of this page for more details.

Add Links/Submit Links: Do you have a web resource that belongs to here? If you have a web site that you wish to include in this page, do let us know the details by sending a note about your URL to [narsi]@[esource].[in] to add URL (pl remove the [ ] to get my email address!). We’ll quickly review the web site, and if found relevant, add it to the database. Thanks!

About Oilgae - Oilgae - Oil & Biodiesel from Algae has a focus on biodiesel production from algae while also discussing alternative energy in general. Algae present an exciting possibility as a feedstock for biodiesel, and when you realise that oil was originally formed from algae - among others - you think "Hey! Why not oil again from algae!"

To facilitate exploration of oil production from algae as well as exploration of other alternative energy avenues, Oilgae provides web links, directory, and related resources for algae-based biofuels / biodiesel along with inputs on new inventions, discoveries & breakthroughs in other alternative energy domains such as solar, wind, nuclear, hydro, geothermal, hydrogen & fuel cells, gravitational, geothemal, human-powered, ocean & wave / tidal energy. We hope Oilgae proves to be useful as a research information & inputs resources, and as a source of news & info for algae business & trade of algal oil, algal fuels & new alternative energy products - specially with regard to new feedstock / feedstocks, production processes and uses, and market info such as price / prices, data & statistics