Making diesel from Algae, by IIT Madras students

ALGIESEL

WHAT IS ALGIESEL?
Algiesel == Algae + Biodiesel. i.e making Bio diesel out of algae.
Biodiesel -> Fuel for Diesel engines created by the chemical conversion of animal fats or vegetable oils.
Algae -> Grows fastest among all photosynthetic organisms, require little or no land area(The perfect solution for the food vs fuel problem)

HOW AND WHY ALGAE?
Yields more usable biomass, with higher lipid concentration
Can be chosen to produce preferred lipids
Grow in wide range of habitats, including freshwater, saltwater, sewage
Lipid content can be manipulated by external conditions.
Basically we can engineer algae to work the way we need.

AIMS OF THE PROJECT
To explore and demonstrate the feasibility of the process of extracting the diesel from the semi treated sewage water
To grow a foreign species of algae in the pond water which is richer in lipid content than the wild algae already growing
Explore the feasibility of the process on a larger scale

INITIAL PLAN OF WORK
Laboratory Phase: Techniques presently in use will be tested & optimized in laboratory, and most feasible techniques will be identified for the available conditions
Testing Phase: Techniques identified in the lab will be scaled up to the semi-pilot scales, exposed to environmental conditions present and Improvements will be made as required
Utilisation Phase: The process identified will be used to produce Bio-Diesel

LAB PHASE
Algal strains as identified by previous experiments(for high lipid content) were tested for scale-ability
Techniques to concentrate and extract the bio-mass were tested and optimised
Process for the Extraction of Algal-oil is yet to be tested

GENERAL OVERVIEW OF DESIGN
Broadly speaking we have a flocculator that basically concentrates the biomass from the algae.
Then we have an extractor which will extract the oil out of biomass.
This oil can be converted into diesel through a process called trans-esterification.

FLOCCULATOR
Simply put, A set of batch-processes taking place in a few connected tanks
Includes
Introduction of Flocculant at the required amount
Stirring/Mixing
pH monitoring and maintenance
Removal of Water

FLOCCULATOR (contd.)
Input : any algae rich media
The algal concentration and strain determines the parameters of the flocculator, like amount of flocculant, pH required, water removal etc.
Results in
Removal of up to 95% of water from the input
Concentration of Biomass to 20 or more times the original concentration

EXTRACTOR
Process to extract maximum lipids (oil) from the concentrated biomass
Includes:
Separation of biomass after concentration by:
Crushing (Mechanical)
Ultra-sonic lysis of cells(Mechanical)
Solvent Methods (Hexane, Chloroform etc.)

SCALE UP
Experiments to take the cultures from lab scale (2l) to well sustained, stable cultures of 200l(or more).
Experiments performed show that the chosen strains were in-capable of growing repetedly in high stress conditions as provided by the water.
Data available, from lab work on lipid contents and cell counts of different algal strains
Problems which arose due to parameters such as salinity, temperature are yet to quantified and corrected through small lab-scale experiments.(Highly time consuming, hence of secondary importance)

CURRENT STATUS
Algal Biodiesel is a very hot topic for research currently.
Many companies and reseach institutions are in the race to be the first people to produce biodiesel from algae commercially.
Rigorous research is being carried out.

SOME EXAMPLES
Royal Dutch Shell has invested in a 2.5 hectare pilot project and has plans to move to a 1000 hectare plant.
N.I.O.T is working on a semi-pilot project on marine algae as a source of bio-diesel.

DREAMS OF ALGIESEL
We want to develop such a plant which can work even in a village.

BENEFITS OF ALGIESEL (contd.)
Algae can be grown anywhere and everywhere(even in the middle of the sea) so a lot of energy is there ready to be used.
Algal biodiesel is potentially one of the best answers to the energy crisis the world is currently facing.

GREEN BENEFITS
Algae are photosynthetic they basically take in carbon dioxide and give out oxygen.
They make use of micro-nutrients present in the water(which are the same parts of waste water that have to be removed)
Say Hi! To algae and bye bye to the protests against green house gas emission.

ECONOMICS OF ALGIESEL
The project in its current state is not feasible economically.
We plan to get around 100ml bio-diesel and our budget will approximately be Rs.20,000.
But this Rs.20,000 is mostly one time cost i.e. infrastructure and set up costs.
Discarding the set up costs the only expense we have is of flocculant and of course electricity costs.
To make 100 ml biodiesel we plan to spend:
Flocculant: Rs.35
Electricity Cost: Rs.3 (approx 1 unit of electricity )
Yet to be estimated solvents(less than Rs.100)
So to make 100 ml biodiesel we need Rs.140 approximately.

ECONOMICS OF ALGIESEL (contd.)
Project is not immediately implementable.
Certain important aspects can make it feasible economically.
We are in the process of finding the suitable strain of algae which gives more amount of oil and can grow in the given waste water.
The yield would increase to upto 3 times with the suitable strain, compared to the native strain.

N.B.: We already have cultured a marine algae ( Chaetoceros parvus )which gives 3 times the yield. But, due to certain highly unstable factors such as temperature and salinity, scale up of this algae is less favourable.

BIODIESEL FROM ALGAE VS JETROPHA
Currently the main source of biodiesel is jetropha plants.
Jetropha controversy.
FOOD vs FUEL debate.
Cost of production of biodiesel from Jetropha is estimated to be Rs.32/litre.
This cost does not take into account the cost of land for growing jetropha.
The (estimated)cost of production of the oil from algae(by the Algiesel team) is Rs. 1500/litre.
So this process can be made economically feasible if thorough research is performed.

TEAM Sagar Laygude Kousik S Chinmay Shukla Avaneesh T Praneet Kumat Durvasula Ashritha Pasupuleti Sai Shalini Mahak Singhal S Uma Maheswari Namrata G Kamat GUIDES Dr. Suraishkumar G.K, Biotech Dept. Dr. Shrikumar Suryanarayan, Biotech Dept. Dr. Ligy Philip, Civil Dept.

THANK YOU

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Making diesel from Algae, by IIT Madras students

by E-Club IIT Madras on Sep 19, 2009

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