Aqueous phase recycling: impact on microalgal lipid accumulation and biomass quality.

The potential success of microalgal biofuels greatly depends on the sustainability of the chosen pathway to produce them. Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) is a promising route to convert wet algal biomass into biocrude. Recycling the resulting HTL aqueous phase (AP) aims not only to recover nutrients from this effluent but also to use it as a substrate to close the photosynthetic loop and produce algal biomass again and process this biomass again into new biocrude. With that purpose, the response to AP recycling of five Chlorellaceae strains was monitored over five cultivation cycles. After four successive cycles of dynamic growth under nutrient-replete conditions, the microalgae were cultivated for a prolonged fifth cycle of 18 days in order to assess the impact of the AP on lipid and biomass accumulation under nutrient-limited conditions. Using AP as a substrate reduced the demand for external sources of N, S, and P while producing a significant amount of biomass (2.95-4.27 g/L) among the strains, with a lipid content ranging from 16 to 36%. However, the presence of the AP resulted in biomass with suboptimal properties, as it slowed down the accumulation of lipids and thus reduced the overall energy content of the biomass in all strains. Although Chlorella vulgaris NIES 227 did not have the best growth on AP, it did maintain the best lipid productivity of all the tested strains. Understanding the impact of AP on microalgal cultivation is essential for further optimizing biofuel production via the HTL process.

Microalgae adaptation as a strategy to recycle the aqueous phase from hydrothermal liquefaction.

Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) produces bio-crude oil from wet algae along with an aqueous phase (AP). This effluent contains minerals that can be reused for cultivating new microalgae but whose utility remains limited due to the presence of inhibitors. Reduced photosynthetic performance, growth, and null lipid accumulation were observed in wild-type Chlorella vulgaris NIES 227 cultivated in AP (1/200). Adaptive laboratory evolution was studied by batch transfers and turbidostat mode. Both methods effectively counterbalanced AP toxicity and restored the fitness of the microalgae. After adaptation, a higher AP addition was achieved, from 1/600 to 1/200, without inhibition. As compared with the wild typein control medium (0.261 g/L/d), both adapted-strains maintained competitive productivity (0.310 and 0.258 g/L/d) of lipid-rich biomass (37 %-56 %). The improved tolerance of the adapted strains persisted after the removal of AP and under axenic conditions. Adaptive laboratory evolution is suggested for AP reutilization in the algae production process.

Lipid yield from the diatom Porosira glacialis is determined by solvent choice and number of extractions, independent of cell disruption.

Cell wall disruption is necessary to maximize lipid extraction yields in conventional species of mass-cultivated microalgae. This study investigated the effect of sonication, solvent choice and number of extractions on the lipid yield, lipid class composition and fatty acid composition of the diatom Porosira glacialis. For comparison, the diatom Odontella aurita and green alga Chlorella vulgaris were included in the study. Sonication effectively disrupted P. glacialis cells, but did not increase the total lipid yield compared to physical stirring (mixing). In all three microalgae, the content of membrane-associated glyco- and phosopholipids in the extracted lipids was strongly dependent on the solvent polarity. A second extraction resulted in higher yields from the microalgae only when polar solvents were used. In conclusion, choice of solvent and number of extractions were the main factors that determined lipid yield and lipid class composition in P. glacialis.