expellers or?

[dunebilly]

Hello, new here, first post. I am interested in harvesting commercial quantities of wild algae. I have looked at expellers up and down, and concluded that while an expeller may work, it would be far from ideal, for processing large volumes. I am striving to get this venture going, the main holdup is how to press the oil from the algae. If anyone has an idea, please post it thankyou.

[deefone]

If your interest is to harvest wild algal I would question first--

1. What is the lipid content? Is it toxic?
2. Wild can overcome any other possible species and infect or pollute your system.
3. If a decent percentage of lipids are found then you may have a possibility.
4. Growth rate, CO2 additive and feedstock should be tested.
5. UV exposure- if possible, the color spectrum could be compared in a closed environment.
6. Work with your local University. If you have gone this far with possible results, we all would like to hear from your results.
7. With over 300,000 species possible, including some toxic, we have a long way to go.
8. It's possible your local alga could be commercially grown but nowhere else.
9. Just don't give up- the answer is out there---most of all stay informed.
deefone

[DR Johansen]

I have been interested in the supercritical CO2 extraction method. If you want to get into volume production, that may be the best way. I THINK it can be used even with wet algae.

As an experiment, perhaps you should try finding a dry cleaner in your area that uses the CO2 method and arrange to "dry clean" a couple 10s or 100s of kg of your algae and see what comes out the sludge line.

Best of luck.

[dunebilly]

If your interest is to harvest wild algal I would question first--

1. What is the lipid content? Is it toxic?
2. Wild can overcome any other possible species and infect or pollute your system.
3. If a decent percentage of lipids are found then you may have a possibility.
4. Growth rate, CO2 additive and feedstock should be tested.
5. UV exposure- if possible, the color spectrum could be compared in a closed environment.
6. Work with your local University. If you have gone this far with possible results, we all would like to hear from your results.
7. With over 300,000 species possible, including some toxic, we have a long way to go.
8. It's possible your local alga could be commercially grown but nowhere else.
9. Just don't give up- the answer is out there---most of all stay informed.
deefone

1. more than what I have now. Not planning to drink it.
2. Don't have a system. I am talking about harvesting an invasive species of alge from the ocean near where I live.
3. Exactly.
4.There is a bunch of it, it is growing very well and definitely absorbing CO2.
5. Not sure of relevance or nesessity.
6. So far all I have heard is that it woulkd make a great study. Been hearing that for years now.
7. Petro-diesel is toxic too right?
8. Codium something or other, seems to grow all over the world, as long as it is warm enough.
9. Thanks for the input, I am still swinging. Couldn't get it together in time for last year, going to try again this year.

[dunebilly]

I have been interested in the supercritical CO2 extraction method. If you want to get into volume production, that may be the best way. I THINK it can be used even with wet algae.

As an experiment, perhaps you should try finding a dry cleaner in your area that uses the CO2 method and arrange to "dry clean" a couple 10s or 100s of kg of your algae and see what comes out the sludge line.

Best of luck.

Thankyou for your reply Doctor. Sorry it took me so long to find it. Would your suggested method cause CO2 to be released into the atmosphere? I see there is much more information about expellers now than last year. I had asumed an expeller would not be effecient as they were designed for pressing seeds. The idea of processing wet has great merit, but not if it requires release of CO2. There is an excess of waste heat available on the harvesting vessel anyway, but obviously dryers and heat exchangers add to mechanical complexity, delay implementation and add to risk of enterprise failure.
Meanwhile, if anyone knows of a commercaily sized process to extract oil from algae, please post. Thankyou.

[DR Johansen]

Thankyou for your reply Doctor.

And I thank you for the acedemic promotion, though I haven't earnd it. Its DR as in initials, not Dr. as in PhD.

Sorry it took me so long to find it. Would your suggested method cause CO2 to be released into the atmosphere?

Only to the extent that you took it out to begin with. The process does not GENERATE CO2, it just uses recycled CO2, removing it from the atmosphere in the first place.

I see there is much more information about expellers now than last year. I had asumed an expeller would not be effecient as they were designed for pressing seeds. The idea of processing wet has great merit, but not if it requires release of CO2. There is an excess of waste heat available on the harvesting vessel anyway, but obviously dryers and heat exchangers add to mechanical complexity, delay implementation and add to risk of enterprise failure.
Meanwhile, if anyone knows of a commercaily sized process to extract oil from algae, please post. Thankyou.

There should be no more concern about SC CO2 than about biofuels. Both processes remove CO2 from the atmosphere and the after using it for a while, puts it back. Both are CO2 neutral.

If you want to remove CO2 for very long periods, start considering making biochar for the vast swaths of sub-saharan Africa.

[dunebilly]

Thankyou, DR
Where can I find information about the CO2 process for oil extraction? Is it energy intensive?
Funny you should mention Biochar. A great friend of mine is a big proponent of biochar, using it to enrich his share of the sandbar we live on (hence Dunebilly). His results have been phenominal, such that he reports them on some website, and I too utilize biochar in my vegatable garden. In fact, one of the projects in my pipeline is a wood gas generator, to power an internal combustion electrical generator, for cogen purposes at my home, utilizeing waste wood chips and providing biochar. Thank you for your input.