EP1272607A1 - Procede pour cultiver des algues - Google Patents

Procede pour cultiver des algues

Info

Publication number
EP1272607A1
EP1272607A1 EP01920003A EP01920003A EP1272607A1 EP 1272607 A1 EP1272607 A1 EP 1272607A1 EP 01920003 A EP01920003 A EP 01920003A EP 01920003 A EP01920003 A EP 01920003A EP 1272607 A1 EP1272607 A1 EP 1272607A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
process according
algae
cultured
organisms
micro
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP01920003A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Johannes Henricus Reith
Cornelis Johannes Josef Marinus Hack
Ronald Kalwij
Lucas Roelof Mur
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Energieonderzoek Centrum Nederland ECN
Original Assignee
Energieonderzoek Centrum Nederland ECN
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Energieonderzoek Centrum Nederland ECN filed Critical Energieonderzoek Centrum Nederland ECN
Publication of EP1272607A1 publication Critical patent/EP1272607A1/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
    • C12M—APPARATUS FOR ENZYMOLOGY OR MICROBIOLOGY; APPARATUS FOR CULTURING MICROORGANISMS FOR PRODUCING BIOMASS, FOR GROWING CELLS OR FOR OBTAINING FERMENTATION OR METABOLIC PRODUCTS, i.e. BIOREACTORS OR FERMENTERS
    • C12M21/00—Bioreactors or fermenters specially adapted for specific uses
    • C12M21/02—Photobioreactors
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
    • C12M—APPARATUS FOR ENZYMOLOGY OR MICROBIOLOGY; APPARATUS FOR CULTURING MICROORGANISMS FOR PRODUCING BIOMASS, FOR GROWING CELLS OR FOR OBTAINING FERMENTATION OR METABOLIC PRODUCTS, i.e. BIOREACTORS OR FERMENTERS
    • C12M23/00—Constructional details, e.g. recesses, hinges
    • C12M23/02—Form or structure of the vessel
    • C12M23/18—Open ponds; Greenhouse type or underground installations
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
    • C12M—APPARATUS FOR ENZYMOLOGY OR MICROBIOLOGY; APPARATUS FOR CULTURING MICROORGANISMS FOR PRODUCING BIOMASS, FOR GROWING CELLS OR FOR OBTAINING FERMENTATION OR METABOLIC PRODUCTS, i.e. BIOREACTORS OR FERMENTERS
    • C12M23/00—Constructional details, e.g. recesses, hinges
    • C12M23/58—Reaction vessels connected in series or in parallel

Definitions

  • the invention relates to a process of culturing photosynthetic micro-organisms
  • Algae cultivation is an environmentally friendly and energetically efficient process for the production of organic material by photosynthesis from carbon dioxide and luminous energy.
  • use is made of gratis energy from sunlight, gratis carbon dioxide and water, which can be of low quality, including industrial process water, effluent of biological water treatment or other waste water streams.
  • Products of algae cultivation include algal biomass and purified water which can be used, for example, as industrial water. If the carbon dioxide stems from flue gas, this algae production also contributes to flue gas cleaning, not least because nitrogen compounds (NOx) too can be removed from the flue gas by the algae.
  • NOx nitrogen compounds
  • the algal biomass produced can - depending on the cultured species - be used in the extraction of a series of high-value-added substances such as: fatty acids (including polyunsaturated fatty acids), pigments, polysaccharides, and a number of other biologically active substances. These products can be used in nutrition and nutritional supplements, cosmetics and other "personal care" products and in clinical and pharmaceutical products.
  • the remainder of the biomass can be designated as animal feed, fertiliser or as a raw material for energy production. Integration of production functions and environmental functions is a beneficial feature of algae cultivation. Culturing algae requires the input of (sun)light (as an energy source for photosynthesis) and a sufficient supply of nutrients in dissolved form in the culture medium.
  • these are: carbon in the form of CO 2 , HCO " or CO 2 derived from mineralisation of organic substances in the feed water, a nitrogen source (generally NO 3 " , NH 4 + or urea), phosphate and a number of other nutrients including sulphur, potassium, magnesium and trace elements.
  • a nitrogen source generally NO 3 " , NH 4 + or urea
  • phosphate and a number of other nutrients including sulphur, potassium, magnesium and trace elements.
  • this organic substance in the algae system is mineralised by bacteria, thus making CO 2 available for uptake by the algae.
  • a number of photosynthetic microorganisms are capable of taking up organic substances directly and using them as a nutrient and an energy source, in combination with the photosynthetic process.
  • "clean" culturing is also possible by making use of, for example, surface water or tap water, to which the nutrients are added in the form of e.g. artificial fertiliser products and pure, technical-grade CO 2 .
  • the open systems in order to increase their efficiency, are generally designed as a continuous culture in which a fixed supply of culture medium or influent ensures constant dilution of the system.
  • the organisms adapt their growth rate to this dilution regime, the organism best adapted to the environment prevailing in the system winning the competition with the other organisms.
  • a drawback of the common open algae culture systems is the major risk of infection by undesirable photosynthetic micro-organisms which can be introduced via air or rain.
  • undesirable photosynthetic micro-organisms which can be introduced via air or rain.
  • the composition and quality of the biomass produced (and thus the yield of the desired product) cannot be controlled.
  • Such infections can be prevented only by choosing a culture medium which is unfavourable for infectious and other undesirable micro-organisms and favourable to growth of the desired alga species, so that the latter can win the competition. In a limited number of cases this is possible.
  • a high pH and high alkalinity are selective for this alga species.
  • Chlorella species such as C. pyrenoidosa and C. vulgaris
  • Dunaliella species inter alia Dunaliella salina
  • the selective advantages which make this possible for these groups of algae are, respectively: the high growth rate which allows the competition from other organisms to be won (in the case of Chlorella sp.) and the salt water environment (in the case of Dunaliella sp.).
  • An alternative to the outlined problems could be to carry out algae cultivation in closed photobioreactors.
  • the process conditions can be accurately controlled, and no infections carrying undesirably alga species will occur.
  • a major drawback of the closed photobioreactors resides in the high investment costs which lead to high production costs.
  • the technology of the photobioreactors is as yet not sufficiently developed for large-scale application.
  • the process of culturing algae according to the invention is based on the use of a series of open reactors connected in series.
  • the total system behaves as a plug-flow reactor, increasingly so as the number of connected reactors increases.
  • This plug-flow reactor is inoculated, preferably continuously or alternatively periodically, with a large quantity of algae which have been precultured under controlled conditions in a closed photobioreactor and/or some other culture system sealed off from the outside air or adequately covered (e.g. a greenhouse).
  • a closed reactor here therefore refers to a reactor which is adequately sealed from possible sources of infection; depending on circumstances, this can also be a semi-closed reactor.
  • the large quantity of algae with which the plug-flow reactor is inoculated from the closed preculture is at least 10 5 cells per charge; on the other hand, this quantity can be expressed in terms of the ultimately recovered quantity of algae or photosynthetic bacteria, preferably at least 100 ppm of that ultimate quantity.
  • a characteristic of the reactor system of the plug-flow type is that no macro-back- mixing takes place, thus ensuring that any contamination which may occur cannot develop to higher densities and will be flushed out.
  • the underlying principle of bulk inoculation with a controlled preculture is illustrated within the following frame.
  • the biomass after a period t can be calculated by the following equation
  • the biomass formed after a period t is therefore defined by N 0 and the generation time T
  • N 240 1.024 . 10 9 cells
  • An infection with species B which enters at the start of the system and has a generation time which is half that of organism A will, after 240 hours, have a biomass of:
  • N 240 1*049 . 10 6 cells
  • a open system based on bulk inoculation and a constant stream in one direction can be used to produce relatively slow-growing alga species without problems with aerial infections. In principle, it is thus possible to culture any alga species desired.
  • the series of connected open reactors numbers at least three reactors, preferably at least four reactors.
  • the connection is such that as the contents of the one reactor are transferred to the next reactor, not more than 5% backmixing takes place, i.e. that not more than 5% of the contents of the reactor which are passed on to the downstream reactor are mixed with the next contents, from the upstream reactor.
  • this percentage is lower, for example at most 2% or rather at most 1%. It will be evident that the lower this backmixing percentage, the smaller the series of reactors which is sufficient with regard to restricting infections.
  • a conceivable design of such a system involves a cascade of connected tubular or trough reactors (troughs, panels, tubes or comparable) or a cascade of ideal stirred reactor systems (CISRTs).
  • the latter can be either ideal stirred tank reactors or tubular reactors comprising static mixers or equivalent systems.
  • an exponential increase in the biomass takes place (as explained within the frame above).
  • This optimum density is a function of the incident light intensity and the depth of the culture.
  • the elements of the system will preferably show an exponential increase in surface area.
  • the increase in surface area can be obtained by an increase in the number of elements in the downstream direction. Instead, an increase in surface area can be obtained by an increase in the reactor volume in the downstream direction.
  • the volume increase is achieved by additional culture medium or waste water containing nutrients being fed in at two or more locations, thereby maintaining the algae concentration at a constant level. This admixture is quantified in terms of the algae concentration and consequently of the growth rate of the algae in the system. Consequently, the flow velocity is likewise a function of the instantaneous growth rate of the cultured alga.
  • the algae are separated from the culture medium, thereby affording as products: purified water and algal biomass as a raw material for the extraction of products.
  • Figure 1 illustrates the principle with reference to a system consisting of a closed tubular bioreactor for continuous inoculation of the open system section, which - in this example - consists of open troughs.
  • the system is suitable, in principle, for large-scale culture of all desired species and strains of photosynthetic micro-organisms, including those species and strains which in the present state of the art can be cultured successfully only in closed reactor systems, because of the above-described contamination problems.
  • This ensures that - by virtue of the "free" choice of species and/or strains - it is also possible to make a "free” choice of the desired products from the range of components which are produced by photosynthetic micro-organisms, and that considerably lower production costs per unit of biomass and per unit of product are achieved, as the system found requires considerably lower investment than closed bioreactor systems on a comparable scale.
  • the process and the system according to the invention are suitable for any species or strain from the group of photosynthetic micro-organisms.
  • This comprises photosynthetic bacteria and micro-algae from the order Cyanobacteria (formerly sometimes also referred to as algae order Cyanophyta), the order Chlorophyta (green algae), the order Chromophyta, the order Cryptophyta, the order Pyrrhophyta (dinoflagellates), the order Euglenophyta and the order Rhodophyta (red micro-algae).
  • the Chromophyta inter alia include the classes Bacillariophyceae (diatoms), Chrysophyceae (golden algae), Eustigmatophyceae and Xanthophyceae (yellow-green algae). According to older classifications, some of these classes form orders of their own (Bacillariophyta, Xanthophyta and the like).
  • Examples are the culture of Monodus species (Eustimatophyceae) for the production of polyunsaturated fatty acids. To be mentioned among these is the species Monodus subterraneus, a freshwater species having an optimum culture temperature of about 25°C and an optimum growth rate ( ⁇ ) of about 0.04 h "1 .
  • Other examples are species and strains from the micro-algae genera Porphyridium sp. (Rhodophyta) for the production of phycobiliproteins and Chlorella sp. (Chlorophyta) for the production of carotenoids and bioactive substances, and the cyanobacteria genera Nostoc sp. , (for the production of phycobiliproteins) and Calothrix sp. (for phycobiliproteins and byproducts).
  • FIG 1 gives an overview of an integral culture system according to the invention.
  • FIG. 2 is a schematic depiction of the principle of a combination of a closed photobioreactor for producing the inoculum (A) and the open system section, the Multiplier (B) in which the algae reside for a number of generations (in this example 4 generations).
  • the bottom section of the figure shows the principle of the open system section in which the surface area increases exponentially, as indicated by the exponential increase in the number of boxes.
  • these boxes will consist either of (connected) tubular or trough reactors (troughs, channels, tubes or the like) or (connected) ideal stirred reactor systems (CISTRs).
  • these individual elements of the system will preferably have a larger surface area than the boxes as drawn, on within the condition that the surface area of the system as a whole increases exponentially in the direction of the plug flow.

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  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Wood Science & Technology (AREA)
  • Organic Chemistry (AREA)
  • Bioinformatics & Cheminformatics (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Zoology (AREA)
  • Biotechnology (AREA)
  • Genetics & Genomics (AREA)
  • General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Sustainable Development (AREA)
  • Microbiology (AREA)
  • Biochemistry (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Biomedical Technology (AREA)
  • Clinical Laboratory Science (AREA)
  • Molecular Biology (AREA)
  • Environmental & Geological Engineering (AREA)
  • Micro-Organisms Or Cultivation Processes Thereof (AREA)
  • Apparatus Associated With Microorganisms And Enzymes (AREA)

Abstract

Selon l'invention, des algues et d'autres micro-organismes à effet photosynthétique peuvent être cultivés de manière opportune dans un système ouvert, par inoculation d'une substance aqueuse avec une ou plusieurs espèces ou souches dudit groupe de micro-organismes, par mise en culture desdits micro-organismes et par récupération de la biomasse produite. Selon l'invention, les micro-organismes à effet photosynthétique devraient être mis en culture dans une série de réacteurs ouverts dont le premier est inoculé avec une grande quantité d'inoculum mis en culture préalable dans un photobioréacteur fermé.
EP01920003A 2000-04-03 2001-04-03 Procede pour cultiver des algues Withdrawn EP1272607A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
NL1014825A NL1014825C2 (nl) 2000-04-03 2000-04-03 Werkwijze voor het kweken van algen.
NL1014825 2000-04-03
PCT/NL2001/000273 WO2001074990A1 (fr) 2000-04-03 2001-04-03 Procede pour cultiver des algues

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1272607A1 true EP1272607A1 (fr) 2003-01-08

Family

ID=19771129

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP01920003A Withdrawn EP1272607A1 (fr) 2000-04-03 2001-04-03 Procede pour cultiver des algues

Country Status (4)

Country Link
EP (1) EP1272607A1 (fr)
AU (1) AU2001246949A1 (fr)
NL (1) NL1014825C2 (fr)
WO (1) WO2001074990A1 (fr)

Families Citing this family (11)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE19916597A1 (de) * 1999-04-13 2000-10-19 Fraunhofer Ges Forschung Photobioreaktor mit verbessertem Lichteintrag durch Oberflächenvergrößerung, Wellenlängenschieber oder Lichttransport
ES2193845B1 (es) * 2001-07-16 2005-03-01 Seaweed Canarias, S.L. Procedimiento para la obtencion de un multiextracto para aplicacion en agroecosistemas.
US8507253B2 (en) 2002-05-13 2013-08-13 Algae Systems, LLC Photobioreactor cell culture systems, methods for preconditioning photosynthetic organisms, and cultures of photosynthetic organisms produced thereby
JP2008545441A (ja) * 2005-06-07 2008-12-18 エイチアール・バイオペトロリウム・インコーポレーテッド 光合成微生物からの、油および他の有用な産物の製造のための連続−バッチ・ハイブリッド法
US8110395B2 (en) 2006-07-10 2012-02-07 Algae Systems, LLC Photobioreactor systems and methods for treating CO2-enriched gas and producing biomass
WO2008134010A2 (fr) 2007-04-27 2008-11-06 Greenfuel Technologies Corp. Systèmes de photobioréacteur positionnés sur des plans d'eau
ITMI20072343A1 (it) 2007-12-14 2009-06-15 Eni Spa Processo per la produzione di biomassa algale ad alto contenuto lipidico
ES2368282B1 (es) * 2010-03-17 2012-09-24 Universidad De Alicante Sistema de reactor abierto para el cultivo de microalgas.
US20110318815A1 (en) * 2010-06-23 2011-12-29 Hazlebeck David A Method and System for Growing Microalgae in an Expanding Plug Flow Reactor
AP3754A (en) * 2012-04-12 2016-07-31 Seagrass Ag Sa Ltd Method of culturing algae
US10208276B2 (en) 2015-06-17 2019-02-19 Siftex Equipment Company, Inc. Pure algae growth system and method

Family Cites Families (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3546812A (en) * 1968-02-09 1970-12-15 City Of Kiryu Process for treating excrement by microorganisms and products obtained thereby
US3763824A (en) * 1971-11-30 1973-10-09 Minnesota Mining & Mfg System for growing aquatic organisms
US4065875A (en) * 1976-09-17 1978-01-03 University Of Delaware Selective destruction of certain algae
DE4317006C2 (de) * 1993-05-17 1996-03-28 Vieh & Fleisch Gmbh Verfahren zur Anwendung von Mikroalgen in Viehfutter

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
See references of WO0174990A1 *

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
WO2001074990A1 (fr) 2001-10-11
NL1014825C2 (nl) 2001-10-04
AU2001246949A1 (en) 2001-10-15

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