Speaker: Yue Yin (’14)
Date: October 17, 2012
Time and Place: 12:15pm; Hugel 100
Title: Microalgae to Biofuel, Mixotrophic Growth of Microalgae Chlorella Vulgaris and Scenedesmus Obliquus
Advisers: Professor Tavakoli
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Abstract:
There is a growing global interest in production of ‘green’ fuels that utilize existing infrastructure due to their economical advantages. This in turn has prompted research activities in production of diesel fuel from algae. In this study, growth rate of two algae strains, Scenedesmus Obliquus and Chlorella Vulgaris, were cultivated under mixotrophic condition using glucose, glycerol and crude glycerol. The samples were aerated with 3% CO2-enriched air at room temperature and a 14:10 hours light:dark cycle. The biomass accumulation was measured after 8 and 14 days. Results show that the biomass productivity with crude glycerol as the main carbon source compares well with those in glucose and pure glycerol, indicating that crude glycerol, a wasted byproduct of biodiesel production from crop oils via transesterification, could be employed to grow Scenedesmus and Chlorella algae.
Sponsored by Lafayette Dean of The College, the Department of Computer Science, The Health and Life Science Program, and the National Science Foundation. Contact Person: Xiaoyan Li, Computer Science, lix@lafayette.edu, 610-330-5416