Ecological Engineering Helps Maximize Function in Algal Oil Production.

Algal biofuels have the potential to curb the emissions of greenhouse gases from fossil fuels, but current growing methods fail to produce fuels that meet the multiple standards necessary for economical industrial use. For example, algae grown as monocultures for biofuel production have not simultaneously and economically achieved high yields of the high-quality lipid-rich biomass desired for the industrial-scale production of bio-oil. Decades of study in the field of ecology have demonstrated that simultaneous increases in multiple functions, such as the quantity and quality of biomass, can occur in natural ecosystems by increasing biological diversity. Here, we show that species consortia of algae can improve the production of bio-oil, which benefits from both a high biomass yield and a high quality of biomass rich in fatty acids. We explain the underlying causes of increased quantity and quality of algal biomass among species consortia by showing that, relative to monocultures, species consortia can differentially regulate lipid metabolism genes while growing to higher levels of biomass, in part due to a greater utilization of nutrient resources. We identify multiple genes involved in lipid biosynthesis that are frequently upregulated in bicultures and further show that these elevated levels of gene expression are highly predictive of the elevated levels in biculture relative to that in monoculture of multiple quality metrics of algal biomass. These results show that interactions between species can alter the expression of lipid metabolism genes and further demonstrate that our understanding of diversity-function relationships from natural ecosystems can be harnessed to improve the production of bio-oil.IMPORTANCE Algal biofuels are one of the more promising forms of renewable energy. In our study, we investigate whether ecological interactions between species of microalgae regulate two important factors in cultivation-the biomass of the crop produced and the quality of the biomass that is produced. We found that species interactions often improved production yields, especially the fatty acid content of the algal biomass, and that differentially expressed genes involved in fatty acid metabolism are predictive of improved quality metrics of bio-oil. Other studies have found that diversity often improves productivity and stability in agricultural and natural ecosystems. Our results provide further evidence that growing multispecies crops of microalgae may improve the production of high-quality biomass for bio-oil.

Process improvements for the supercritical in situ transesterification of carbonized algal biomass.

This work focuses on the production of biodiesel from wet, lipid-rich algal biomass using a two-step process involving hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) and supercritical in situ transesterification (SC-IST). Algal hydrochars produced by HTC were reacted in supercritical ethanol to determine the effects of reaction temperature, time, ethanol loading, water content, and pressure on the yield of fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEE). Reaction temperatures above 275 °C resulted in substantial thermal decomposition of unsaturated FAEE, thereby reducing yields. At 275 °C, time and ethanol loading had a positive impact on FAEE yield while increasing reaction water content and pressure reduced yields. FAEE yields as high as 79% with a 5:1 ethanol:fatty acid (EtOH:FA) molar ratio (150 min) and 89% with a 20:1 EtOH:FA molar ratio (180 min) were achieved. This work demonstrates that nearly all lipids within algal hydrochars can be converted into biodiesel through SC-IST with only a small excess of alcohol.

Triflate-catalyzed (trans)esterification of lipids within carbonized algal biomass.

This study demonstrates the utility of rare-earth metal triflate catalysts (i.e., Sc(OTf)(3) and In(OTf)(3)) in the (trans)esterification of oleic acid as well as the lipids contained within carbonized algal biomass using ethanol in the presence of water. Both catalysts are highly active between 200 and 235°C with an ethanol:fatty acid (EtOH:FA) molar ratio of 10-20:1 and showed a high tolerance for moisture. Lipids within hydrochars produced by reacting Chlorella protothecoides paste (25% solids) in high temperature water (220-250°C) were successfully converted into fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEE). The highest FAEE yields (85-98%) were obtained when hydrochars were reacted for 60 min at 215°C with about 11-13 mol% Sc(OTf)(3), a 17-19:1 EtOH:FA molar ratio, and without water. FAEE yields remained as high as 93% in the presence of 9 wt.% water. Our preliminary results warrant further work to optimize triflate-catalyzed in situ (trans)esterification at low catalyst and ethanol loadings.