earticle

영어

Microalgae are the highest potential energy yield plants and produce 8 to 120 times larger amount of oils than those of terrestrial oil crop plants, because they contained 12.5-72% total lipids (% of total dry weight). Effective liquid fuel production from microalgae has been studied using Botryococcus braunii, a green colonial microalga characterized by a considerable production of lipids, notably hydrocarbons. The strains of this alga differ in the type of hydrocarbons they synthesize and accumulate, in the amount of lipid production and in the
growth capacity. So the acquisition of the strains with high lipid production and growth rate is requested for utilization of this alga for fuel production. The growth and lipid production of this alga were enhanced by the addition of pre-treated domestic and industrial wastewater under the light conditions. The use of industrial flue gas to supply cultures of B. braunii with CO2 was possible supported by the tolerance of B. braunii towards some pollutants such as sulfite
and bisulfite. Supposed that B. braunii is grown and harvested in the large scale culture pond (19 ha), LCA showed that an amount of acquired energy was about 3 times higher than that of consumed energy, resulting in plus energy balance. It is the true in the case of CO2. However, the charged cost was 3 times higher than gained cost. If we set and managed this system in Indonesia which has cheap personnel costs and cheap lighting, heating and water expenses, the gained cost is higher than the charged cost. So it is possible to improve the economy of algal
fuel even in developed countries by future development of technology.