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Algae As Feedstock Info


Two weeks ago, during the big Demo in Baytown, Algae was tested as a Feedstock utilizing The Rivera Process. Apparently, the test went well, USSE/SSTP can make Vertroleum from algae! The only remaining question is the composition of the resulting Biocrude for quality, so a sample was sent to AmSpec for Testing. We await those Tests, hopefully sometime in the next week or two.

I have done some research on Algae as Feedstock. There is a lot of info on Algae, but here is Algae as Feedstock in a nutshell:


* Introduction to Algae *
In the beginning, there were algae, but there was no oil
Then, from algae came oil.
Now, the algae are still there, but oil is fast depleting
In future, there will be no oil, but there will still be algae
So, doesn’t it make sense to explore if we can again get oil from algae?
http://www.oilgae.com


* Origins of Oil *
There is agreement among most geologists today that crude oil was formed over million of years from the remains of tiny aquatic plants and animals. This oil was formed from organic matter that is "cooked" deep within the earth. Kerogen is the name given to the fossil organic matter. Kerogen occurring in many areas is derived mainly from diatoms, one-celled planktonic plants with microscopic shells of silica. Other types of plankton & sometimes bacteria that feed on decaying plankton, make up most of the kerogen in many of the oil source rocks. Most crude oil was thus formed from planktons, one-celled plants and animals, which floated on the surfaces of ancient oceans. As these organisms died, they settled to the ocean floor and were covered with mud. If the mud did not contain enough oxygen for the soft parts of these organisms to decay, then the organic material was converted into kerogen. Some kerogen may later be converted into oil. Some oils also formed from non-marine algae and bacteria which grew in ancient lakes.

In summary, most crude oil formed from microscopic plants and animals – prominent among them being algae - that died millions of years ago. With deeper burial, sufficient time and temperature, the soft parts of these organisms, were slowly converted to oil over millions of years
http://www.oilgae.com/ref/oil/or/or.html


* Crops Oils Content, KEY to Biofuels Feedstocks *
Biofuels are really a form of solar energy, because crops convert solar energy into chemical energy in a process called, Photosynthesis. IT'S THIS CHEMICAL ENERGY, IN THE FORM OF OILS, THAT WE NEED TO PRODUCE BIOFUELS. The more efficient a particular plant is at converting solar energy into chemical energy, the better it is from a biofuels perspective. So in this area algae’s the clear winner. In fact, algae does this so well that up to 50% of its body weight can be fat, or the oil needed to make Biodiesel.

* Algae Composition *
All algea primary comprise of the following, in varying proportions: Proteins, Carbohydrates, Fats and Nucleic Acids. While the percentages vary with the type of algae, there are algae types that are comprised up to 50% of their overall mass by fatty acids. It is this fatty acid (oil) that can be extracted and converted into biodiesel.
http://www.oilgae.com/algae/comp/comp.html


* Algae as a Feedstock appear to have many advantages relative to other Biofuels Feedstocks *
1.) They can grow in many different areas, even in areas far from seas, in deserts and even in snow (most other oil crops need specific climatic conditions for their growth).
2.) Their yields are substantially higher than those for traditional oil crops - many oil crops cannot even theoretically replace petro-diesel or gasoline because that would require almost all the world’s cultivable land to be dedicated to produce biofuels alone (so hello, what do we eat?).
3.) And algae have a bit of history too – oil was originally formed from the millions of years’ of nature’s work on algae! Yes, the oil we are using today as fossil fuel was originally formed from the algal masses.
4.) There is another interesting reason as well: Algae can be grown in sewages and next to power-plant smokestacks where they digest the pollutants and give us oil!
http://www.oilgae.com/ref/story/story.html


* Yield of Various Plant Oils *
Crop Oil in Liters per hectare
Castor 1413
Sunflower 952
Safflower 779
Palm 5950
Soy 446
Coconut 2689
Algae 100,000
http://www.oilgae.com/algae/oil/yield/yield.html
Other Crop Yields:
http://www1.investorvillage.com/groups.asp?mb=14022&mn=2092&pt=msg&mid=3816287

* Algae Growth Requirements *
Like plants, algae require primarily three components to grow: sunlight, carbon-di-oxide & water. Like plants again, they use the sunlight for the process of photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is an important biochemical process in which plants, algae, and some bacteria convert the energy of sunlight to chemical energy. This chemical energy is used to drive chemical reactions such as the formation of sugars or the fixation of nitrogen into amino acids, the building blocks for protein synthesis. Algae capture light energy through photosynthesis and convert inorganic substances into simple sugars using the captured energy.

* Growing Algae - 2 different means of Cultivation *
A). "Open" Ponds and Lakes.
B). PhotoBioreators.
A photobioreactor is an equipment that is used to harvest algae. A photobioreactor is basically a bioreactor that incorporates some type of light source. The term photobioreactor is more commonly used to define a closed system, as opposed to an open pond. A pond covered with a greenhouse could also be considered a photobioreactor. Because these systems are closed everything that the algae need to grow, (carbon dioxide, water and light) need to be introduced into the system.
http://www.oilgae.com/algae/oil/biod/cult/cult.html

* Land use required to grow Algae *
Michael Briggs at the Univ. of N. Hampshire Biodiesel group estimates that using open. outdoor, racetrack ponds, only 15,000 square miles could produce enough algae to meet all of the USA's ground transportation needs. If all of this land were in one rectangular piece, it would be 120 miles by 125 miles—about 1/7th of the area of the state of Colorado, or roughly the size of Maryland.



Photo-bioreactors (which grow algae, picture):
http://www1.investorvillage.com/groups.asp?mb=14022&mn=2478&pt=msg&mid=3858581

Photo-bioreactors (working diagram):
http://www1.investorvillage.com/groups.asp?mb=14022&mn=2479&pt=msg&mid=3858593

Pilot Algae Plant (scroll down for the pics):
http://bhm-worldwide.com/hinben%20algae%20biofuel.htm

More Algae Info:
http://www.biocrude.us/feedstocks.html

3 short YouTube's on Algae, if you want more info:

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