Here is a report I did in 2007 on BioDiesel from Algae and how to grow and process it!
Zachary Williams
6/6/07 Report 4 EE80J: Report4: Biodiesel Production Through Algae Farms
Problem: CO2 Emission and High Cost of Fuels
The average annual CO2 emissions are 5080 kilograms per person in the United States. This means that the city of Santa Cruz gives off 277332440 kilograms of CO2. Much of this green house gas pollution comes from automobile exhaust. Everyone can agree that renewable sources of fuel will help cut back these greenhouse gasses but the technology is very new and the market tends to distrust developments in their infant stages even if they are very promising. Hybrid gasoline/electric cars are making a large impact on the automobile market, as people are more and more willing to adopt them due to very clean safety and performance records over the last few years. Biodiesel fuel however can be used in existing technology with little or no modifications.
The question however is how clean is biodiesel and how much will it cost and the answers are very promising. Most agree that using biodiesel cuts emissions in half, however a British study6 claims the use of biodiesel can cut emissions by 94%. Either way emissions are cut by a substantial number, better than electric hybrid engines, and unlike electric hybrids, this source is totally renewable and has the potential to be very cheap and grown by local communities. Currently the TAPS fleet on the UCSC campus runs all of its diesel vehicles on biodiesel however for the 66,000 gallons per year necessary to fuel the fleet it pays $2.916 per gallon of Biodiesel from II Fuels.
The campus could benefit financially since it spends $192,456 every year on fuel, and this number could be reduced dramatically after UCSC authorizes the construction of a local on campus renewable energy production facility.
Solution: Algae Farms and Local Distribution
Diesel fuel makes up one-fifth of transportation fuel consumption in the United States. Using a slightly more recent report from 2004 by Michael Briggs at the University of New Hampshire Physics Department, we see that “each year the US consumes roughly 60 billion gallons of petroleum diesel and 120 billion gallons of gasoline.” Assuming that the average gasoline engine is about 35 percent less efficient than its diesel counterpart and that biodiesel's overall fuel efficiency is about 2 percent less than diesel's, Briggs calculates that we need 140.8 billion gallons of biodiesel to satisfy all transportation needs of the US.7 This assumes that all vehicles could be steadily converted to diesel engines.
This is not an outrageous assumption. On the contrary, “At the end of 2003 there were about 190 million cars in the European Union, and about 23 percent of them were diesels.” In addition, 40 percent of new car sales in the EU are diesel engine cars.8 The infrastructure to manufacture diesel engines en masse is currently in place and working. Another added bonus is that diesel engines can burn pure biodiesel or a fuel that is a mix of any ratio of biodiesel and petrodiesel.
Theoretical yield of biodiesel from algae is 15,000 gallons per acre-year, much more than soybean (60 gallons per acre-year)9 or palm yield of oil. Current technologies employed by such entrepreneurs such as Dr. Isaac Berzin can yield steady harvests of 5,000 – 15,000 gallons per acre-year.10 For the economic purposes of our project we will primarily seek out 4.4 acres to conduct the algal growth that we will continue to improve till we reach our optimum yield of 15,000 gallons per acre. Bioreactors which may be more expensive are a much more efficient method for growing the algae and require relatively very little space to operate.
These fuel yields from algae farms open an opportunity for UC Santa Cruz: the university could open and operate, as a demonstration project, an algae farm and biodiesel facility with the capability of running its TAPS bus fleet on biodiesel fuel. This could serve as a marketing campaign for algal biodiesel, a way to clean up emissions from TAPS buses, and a revenue stream for the university.
To convert the UC Santa Cruz TAPS buses to run solely on biodiesel fuel, this project would have to accomplish several things. First, the program would have to provide approximately 62,000 gallons of biodiesel per year to satisfy TAPS demand. The TAPS fuel requirement could easily be fulfilled with a farm of 4.4 acres. Second, the TAPS bus service must be completely run off diesel. This is largely the case; in fact, TAPS is planning to buy new buses with diesel engines to replace the few older gasoline buses in the next few years.11 Third, UCSC would have to fund the opening and operation of a comprehensive facility that would include the algae farm and an extraction and processing facility including a bioreactor, algae pools and extraction equipment. As the quantity of biodiesel required is small, the setting up of a facility to extract and process biodiesel will be relatively inexpensive.
The only major obstacle is finding the land which will be used to grow and farm the algae and convincing the university to give us either an open field or space on the roofs of buildings which are controlled by departments which might want to be included this project. A great way for a physical science department at this school to gain publicity and potentially help in obtaining federal and state grants for requested research would be involving themselves in a project which can not only pay for itself by sale of biodiesel fuel but will provide the TAPS fleet with free fuel for as long as the operation is yielding the desired amount of biodiesel. Once a bioreactor, algae farms, and extraction facilities are constructed and paid for Biodiesel the use and sale of Biodiesel fuel will pay for the project and with continued expansion or increased efficiency of current system, excess fuel will provide revenue source for continual research, following a trend of renewable energy into renewable finance.
Project and Business Model, Marketing, Sales and Competition
In order for this project to be successful and expandable, UCSC must buy a property close to campus in order to monitor the algae closely and allow upper-division students or graduate students accessibility to the facility in order to operate it. The 4.4 acres necessary to supply the biodiesel for TAPS is off campus is readily available in the area bounded by Western Drive, Highway 1, and Wilder Ranch State Park in Santa Cruz. There is much more than 4.4 of available space in this desolate area, so the operation, if successful, can expand with relative ease.
For an on campus location we have mapped out several areas including the roofs of buildings at science hill in the Underlying Technology section. Operating the entire project on campus will be the most convenient and profitable if we can cooperate with UCSC in a student run business partnership to produce the biodiesel for the on campus TAPS fleet, use the algae as an area for student research, and sell excess fuel to Pacific Biofuels. The entire process would only need about 4.4 acres on campus for a bioreactor and algae pools plus an additional space inside a building for the ultrasound and hot press machines where extraction will take place.
The facilities would be built according to the instructions of a supervising body such as the UCSC Physical Plant if our method chosen of multiple bioreactors on the roofs of buildings. This office could supervise the algae bioreactors operation, maintenance, and employment of student workers and researchers to investigate the bettering of the reactor’s efficiency. Once the biodiesel is extracted and processed correctly, this quantity can be transported to already existing storage tanks site for the TAPS buses to refuel and excess fuel will be transported by pacific biodiesel to their much larger storage operation plants.
The installation of a bioreactor, algal pools and extraction facilities would take no longer than 1 year. At the end of the second year of our operation we would find ourselves with an expected yield of 62,000 gallons of biodiesel. At a sale price of $2.15 a gallon to Pacific Biofuels, which is what they have agreed to purchase biodiesel for redistribution, this would generate $133,300 in revenue. The time it will take for installation of the bioreactor and algae ponds will be no less than a month.
The construction of an extraction facility will only take as long as it does for the necessary equipment to ship. By the end of first year the projected 62,000 gallons of biodiesel produced will have an initial production cost of $1,021,577 and in the 2nd year production revenue should cover the entire initial operation cost, allowing us to generate annual revenue of $592,595. After the second year operation costs will reduce by $1,296,768 allowing for profit and we hope to also increase output by using a more efficient strain of algae and take advantage of our bioreactors which can yield more than 362kg of algae a day and potentially deliver up to 96,000 gallons of biodiesel a year.
Since every gallon of algal oil will require 1 times the amount of methanol and .007 times the amount of lye, it will cost an additional 70 cents for every additional gallon of Biodiesel produced. Regardless for the retail price of around $2.90 for local distributors, the extra expenses will be worth it and allow the project to take in profits of $1.47 a gallon if sold to Pacific Biofuels which purchases B100 biodiesel for up to $2.15 a gallon and also must use 2 cents a gallon to transport it from Richmond, Washington. Funding should take no more than one year to acquire and if we produce the maximum amount of Biodiesel that one of our bioreactor can yield, 907.2kg per day we will produce 43,737 gallons per year, and receive revenue of $94,034 just from fuel. From the cakes of dry algae that are in high demand in agribusiness, which sell from an average of $3.50 per kilogram to a variety of local farmers and food producers, we will generate $579,474 in revenue.
The additional 7 cents per gallon taken into account during extraction means an extra cost of $30616 per year. After 2 and a half years we will reach revenue of $1,481,487 (with maintenance costs), meeting the initial cost of $1,347,377. Every year after this we will generate revenue of $592,595 per year, which can be reinvested into expansion of our current production operation.
We will request the initial funds either from a bank business loan or from venture capital firms such as Entrepreneurial Funding (http://www.entrepreneurialfunding.com). We have group members who’s immediate family has large scale business connections with very high profile venture capitalists in Energy related fields.
Underlying Technology: Micro-Algae
There are various forms of algae on the market today but our focus is primarily on microalgae which produces more of the natural oils needed to make biodiesel. Microalgae encompasses fast growing ocean and freshwater plants that can reach up to 60 meters in height. Microalgae is ideal for the production of biodiesel primarily because it can grow in an open area whereas other types of algae need to grow in a closed environment due to contaminants in the air and wind. Growing algae in an open area is beneficial to this project because of its relatively low cost in comparison to the closed pond growth systems.
Another positive aspect of using microalgae to produce biodiesel can be seen in the future prospects the species. Engineering breakthroughs are allowing algae to become ever more efficient in the production of biofuels as well as in the absorption of carbon dioxide emissions. In the past five years an extensive number of algal species have had their genomes entirely mapped out. This new understanding of the relationship between function and form at the molecular level of the algae may give rise to a bioengineered form of algae whose lipid production is far greater than any strain known of today. Why is this exciting for our future prospectus? Well if the algae farms needed to produce the 62,000 gallons of biodiesel are built today, we can expect the amount of land required to grow the algae to decrease as ever more efficient strains are created, thus reducing the cost of producing the algae.
Growing algae as a way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions is yet another promising facet of this project. The open pond systems utilized in this project are precisely the types used in Microalgae biofixation of CO2 and greenhouse gas reduction. Biofixation occurs through the anaerobic digestion of concentrated microalgae which can then be used to generate electricity, another benefit to the UCSC Physical Plant if they chose to utilize it. Algae can also be used to purify wastewater by absorbing nutrients that are otherwise contaminants. The possibility for outlying power plants to buy Santa Cruz algae for the purification of municipal water is well within reach as another source of income for this project.
Skepticism always underlies any proposal where risk is involved and it is important to weigh the positive impacts against the negative impacts when considering funding for a project of such magnitude.
First off the idea of powering the TAPS bus system with biodiesel in our relatively small city of Santa Cruz may seem like only a spec of a positive environmental impact when compared to the pollution residing in the rest of the world. So why Santa Cruz then, obviously reducing the greenhouse emissions of our public transport will not help the environmental crisis in the rest of the world. Then again, it might. If this project is successful it could be used as a model for other cities to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and switch to biofuels. It is difficult to overlook the revenue generated by producing biodiesel in Santa Cruz as well. The algae farms of Santa Cruz could eventually supply outlying cities with biodiesel after they see our own success. With rising energy demands in developing countries, pollution is bound to go up. While we all hope that these developing countries choose green energy sources to progress into the future we must set an example and do our part as an already developed nation to adjust to our changing environment. Santa Cruz is a small city in comparison, but the actions taken here today have the capability of carrying the flag for a promising environmental future for this world.
Supplies needed for Algal Growth
A variety of systems have been investigated and constructed for the greater purpose of cultivating and processing a harvestable algal crop. The two most prominent of the methods used for the growth process involve techniques similar to Dr. Berzim’s, I.E. the construction of a series of transparent holding/growth tubes and alternatively, vast shallow “ponds” of either natural or manmade origin. Neither of these techniques are financially debilitating to such a project as the one which our group proposes, and the infrastructure to produce and distribute such systems is already in existence.
A company based out of the Netherlands by the name of BioKing specializes in producing a marketable high yield, “complete[ly] automated turnkey photo-bioreactor with production capacity of 1 ton dry biomass per day...” at a buy-in cost of €480,000, or at current exchange rates, 648,384 USD.
According to their brochure, this stand alone unit for algal production includes not only the tubes in which the growth actually occurs, but a wet-scrubber for atmospheric CO2 extraction, pumps, centrifugation, and even selected fatty algae cultures. It is worth noting that a certain amount of energy would be required to power this system, (somewhere on the order of one half to one Kwh per tube,) but if an external diesel generator is used, the cost is negligable. As these systems produce an estimated one ton of biomass per day (after drying), with a optimal yeild, the amount of raw material necessary to power the TAPS fleet after extraction can be surpassed significantly.
The energy requirements of the TAPS fleet is around 170 gallons per day, and with a ton of mass produced daily, half of which can be turned into biofuel, (assuming a 50 percent yeild,) one could expect to produce approximately 132 gallons daily per BioKing reactor. Thusly, to account for total fuel consumption of TAPS, two of such BioKing reactors would need to be purchased, as their next larger model is a factor of 25 times more productive, larger, and is cost prohibitive. With both biophotoreactors acting at a maximum efficiency, the theoretical biofuel yield is 155 percent that of TAPS’ daily fuel requirements.
Day one after installation Day four after installation and in full production
The algae strains used by BioKing are reportedly extremely resilliant, and are reported to grow “Even...in arctic latitudes with water at -2º C.” This is equivalent to approximately 28 degrees Fahrenheit, and Santa Cruz very rarely drops to such low temperatures. Another benefit of these stand alone systems is that their footprint is reduced significantly as compared to alternative methods; a system as described above can be installed in a 10 m by 10 m base module. (Approximately 32.81 x 32.81 feet.) Two of these reactors are necessary, as explained, but this is still a spatially economic plan.
The production of significant quantities of biofuels alone is not the only benefit of farming algae. Although usable oils can account for 50 percent of the weight of a particular strain of algae, the remaining mass is not merely waste material. The dry mass of algal strains is rich in protein, carbohydrates, and the remainder can be sold as “press cake” for a variety of uses. According to the BioKing brochure13, algal press cakes can be sold somewhere between 1 and 3 Euros, or between 1.5 and 4 dollars per kilogram. These can account for an additional income, and can vastly reduce the turnaround period for investment costs.
Algae are biological specimens that have high lipid contents (some are up to 50% lipids by weight). This translates into high hydrocarbon content, which is the same is saying high oil content. In order to extract oil from algae, one must run an extraction process. Different processes exist: some involve hexane, some involve pressing, some involve both, and all yield different amounts of oil from a given feedstock of algae. Hexane is a dangerous and toxic chemical derived from petroleum, so we shall abstain from using it even though the hexane-extraction process extracts close to 95% of oil in an algae sample. Hot pressing is non-toxic and is exactly what it sounds like: the algae is pressed for its oil. With this process, 90-95% of available oil is extracted.12 During the early stages of extraction however around 50% of the algae is oil by weight and so only half of what is grown and harvested is yielded in oil form after hot pressing process. We will attempt to later find, breed and genetically engineer strains that can produce up to 80% oil by weight.
Once the algal oil is pressed out, it is stored in a tank. Then, to purify the biodiesel, a separate tank is set up with misters inside and pipes leading in from the water system; the misters and the pipes will circulate water into the biodiesel, thereby carrying away any unwanted trace materials. This water is drained off and is non-toxic; it contains glycerin and other trace elements.14 We are left with purified biodiesel fuel that is ready to use and integrate into any diesel pumping system, anywhere. This is the essential process.
There are a few tweaks one can apply to this basic process to increase productivity substantially. For example, the traditional batch reactor method of mixing, that is, mixing the oil and the sodium hydroxide mechanically with added heat can take anywhere from 1-5 hours per batch. Using a Hielscher ultrasound machine emitting sound waves at a frequency of 20kHz directly into the mixing chamber, ultrasonic transesterification and the resulting cavitation is a process that can reduce the mixing process time to less than 5 minutes. Mechanical separation also takes a long time, ranging from 5-10 hours per batch. The same ultrasound method reduces the separation time to less than 30 minutes. In addition, ultrasonic transesterification yields almost 100% biodiesel from the available oil.15 TAPS needs 61,013 gal per year; with a comfort margin, let's say that this project has to produce 62,000 gal per year. That works out to be 0.468 liters per minute. Hielscher has an affordable 1kW ultrasonic transesterification machine for sale, which can perform the task aforementioned continuously or noncontinuously with little maintenance needed, which can handle a flow rate of 20 liters per minute.16 This flow rate is more than 40 times what TAPS buses need.
Using a European patent17 which maps out realistic ratios of the handful of chemical agents needed to produce biodiesel from algae, we have mapped out a plan for the extraction of the algae oil after harvest into usable biodiesel. Our method is optimized with a growing method of using a hybrid of bioreactors to grow the algae initially fitted with automatic circulation systems coupled with anti-weed agents and secondly inoculating large open ponds to grow the algae on a larger scale, occasionally refilling them with sea water taken from Long Marine Lab. 4.4 acres of land would be sufficient to produce 132,150kg of raw algae and 66,000 gallons of algal oil from such a grow operation after conversion but of course we would ask for an acre more to cover any uncertainty we might face. We have found several places on campus that seem to be optimal spaces for setting up the large ponds necessary for this procedure while bioreactors can be placed near by in a small building along with the extraction facility.
This is a map of science hill and we have charted out the 6.05 acres of the rooftops from a handful of buildings that can be utilized for growing algae in large pools where they will be out of the way of pedestrians and can use the rising carbon emissions from passing traffic to supply their co2. However with a bioreactor system it may be unnecessary to use the 4.4 acres of land requested and in fact we may only need a total of 10 by 10 feet to operate 1 bioreactor from Bioking. This method should be most efficient and will most likely be the route this project would choose if someone were to financially bring it into operation. The spaces mapped out the roofs of the buildings on Science Hill would still be good choices for placement of the relatively small Bioreactors.
Supplies and Equipment Needed for Extraction
The actual extraction process will involve two devices which themselves will be sufficient in extracting and converting enough biodiesel from raw harvested algae that will be needed to match the quota of 66,000 gallons of biodiesel a year. An $8,000 3048kg per day CLB-300 Seed Oil Extruder will be used as the hot press to extract the oil from raw harvested algae which is able to produce 200-300 gallons per day and 90,000 per year18. The $14,000 UIP1000 Industrial Ultrasonic Processor will be used with the addition of a mixture of lye (sodium hydroxide) and methanol and take this oil and convert it into usable biodiesel at a rate of 100liters per hour or 231,414 gallons per year19 while the cost of its electricity is negligible as it will be powered by the same generator as the bioreactor, running off fuel we produce. The ratios for this mixture are 1.3:1 of methanol to algal oil and .007:1 of sodium hydroxide to algal oil. This means that for the entire 62,000 gallons of algal oil we hope to produce, we must purchase 616kg of sodium hydroxide ($3,623 at 5.88 dollars a kilogram20) and 88,100kg of methanol ($39,600 at 60 cents a gallon21). Upon adding up the costs all supplies and instruments necessary to take raw harvested algae, press it and convert to biodiesel we reach a total of an initial $65,223 per year for this process if the project purchases fresh methanol for every extraction.
After the second year only $43,223 must be spent on Sodium hydroxide and methanol since press and ultrasonic processor have already been purchased. The methanol is still a large concern because it may cause the process to become un profitable. This is why we would use the simple condenser in the ultrasonic processor to recover 20% of the methanol used, and less amounts of the yearly supply would be needed. A small percentage of the methanol will be lost with each process of refinement but with processing only 245 gallons of algal oil every day and with approximately 80% of the methanol evaporating or leaving the system over the course of the day, only 42924 gallons ($25754) of methanol may be needed per year after the initial 245 gallons. This will cut yearly processing costs down to $51377 for the first year and $29377 after the second year when only purchasing new sodium hydroxide and methanol. With the addition of $1,296,000 for two bioreactor (which will be able to produce more than 3 times as much algae as needed) the total cost of growing and extracting algae to biodiesel is $1,347377, and only $29377 every year after that for extraction supplies.
UIP1000 Industrial Ultrasonic Processor
Projections/milestones
The project which has been outlined above is admittedly radical and very ambitious, and without concrete examples being exhibited by other organizations it would seem wise to consider if this plan is indeed feasible. However, given the research and calculations conducted, our group is confident that such a plan is not only feasible, but ultimately economically and environmentally promising. As outlined in previous sections, the turnaround for such a project is somewhere in the order of two to three years, and the environmental benefits are encouraging.
The ultimate impact provided by the employment of such a system, however, could be found in the establishment of a larger movement, which extends beyond our school. The University of California at Santa Cruz could provide the impetus and the precedence by which any number of other collegiate bodies or private groups could adopt this novel technology. In this scenario, UCSC would be remembered as a trendsetter, which would provide incalculable publicity and perhaps ultimately funding to the campus, and the paradigmatic shift facilitated by our example could prove revolutionary.
Call To Action
The United States spends 100 to 150 Billion dollars per year on crude oil and is the number one emitter of greenhouse emissions in the world, the President of the United States himself has even said that this country is addicted to Oil and his presidency’s campaign stems directly from Oil company funds. Shifting our transportation to Biodiesel would not only help clean our air and reduce greenhouse emissions but it would allow us to become energy independent. A biofuel infrastructure would also give Americans millions of much needed new job as we could potentially turn from the worlds largest energy importer to the worlds largest energy explorer. UCSC can be used as a model for just how profitable local energy independence can be and how it benefits not only the producers but the entire community on economic and environmental levels. If convinced to give space for the project the University would be allowing not only algae to begin growing but also an entrepreneurial attitude at a campus which lacks very many ingenuitive or well known projects that actually make money or directly help local ecology.
Group Dynamics:
The three members of our group contributed equal amounts of personal time to this project. We worked together and individually, conducted our own research, data retrieval and calculation, and shared project responsibility between the three of us as best as possible. Originally our group featured a fourth member, Matthew Auerbach, who contributed a certain amount of work and research, however for reasons unbeknownst to us, he decided to leave our project. He did not give the reasons for his departure, and in writing permitted the remaining members of the group to use any or all of the material which he collected.
I will start using steemit to archive all of y old essays I spent a good chunk of my adolescent life on and I knew I would want to save them one day because of the effort I put into them! If you want to use this business plan its free to use 100percent its all open source and available to anyone but now numbers are different, still even MORE profitable to grow algea for biodiesel!