The document describes a student research project to produce biodiesel from microalgae. The goals are to save the environment from CO2 emissions, use sewage water, and produce a renewable energy source. The students ordered algae samples, built reactors including an open pond, cultivated the algae, separated it from water, and planned to extract oil and make biodiesel. Key steps included growing algae in bottles and reactors, testing diesel exhaust on algae, and estimating costs.

1. ALGAE BASED BIODIESEL
 Ahmed Mohamed Marzouqi
 Hasan Salem Yalyali
 Ali Mousa Al Masri
 Essa Al Muallemi

2. INTRODUCTION
 Goals: produce biodiesel from microalgae
 Saving the environment from CO2 emissions
 Using sewage water
 Produce a renewable and new energy source
 Biodiesel: a biodegradable, clean-burning
combustible fuel derived from new or used
vegetable oils or animal fats and microalgae

3. INTRODUCTION
 Why biodiesel?
 Produces less harmful emissions
 Creates jobs
 Substitute the fossil fuel
 Why Algae?
 Lower cost
 High oil content
 Can grow in everyplace
 beneficial by-product

4. RESEARCH SUMMARY
 The type of microalgae is Ankistrodesmus braunii
 Visiting UAQ research Centre
 Chlorella, Nannochloropesis and Tetraselmis
 Cultivated in small beakers (light + aeration)
 Transferred to 100 L
 Transferring to 1 Ton …….. 15 ton of algae

5. RESEARCH SUMMARY
 The reactor should be aseptic
 Scaling up decreasing the density

6. PROJECT OVERVIEW
Sub
culturi
ng the
algae
in
bottles
•Ordering Algae From UAQ
•Ordering Algae from USA
•Building cultivation reactor
•Preparing perfect media
Cultivating
micro
algae in
photobior
eactor
Cultivating
microalgae using
diesel engine
emissions
Cultivating
microalgae
in sewage
water
Separating algae cells
from water by:
•Drying
•Filters
•Centrifuging
Crushing algae cells by:
•Sonication
Extracting oil
from algae cells
by hexane
Doing
Transteterification to
get biodiesel
Testing the biodiesel
•Getting 1 ton of algae from UAQ
•Building the open pond
•Building the bioreactor
•Testing diesel engine's emissions

7. DAILY MEDIA PREPARATION
NaNO3
300 ml/L
]
CaCl
100 ml/L
]
MgSO4
100 ml/L
]
P (4) metal solution
60 ml/L
]
Soil water(not
for
Nannochlorop
esis) 400 ml/L
]
K2HPO4
100 ml/L
]
KH2PO4
100 ml/L
]
NaCl
100 ml/L
]
Vitamins
10 ml/L
for each
]
10 L

8. ORDERING ALGAE FROM
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS
 The selected type of microalgae which is
Ankistrodesmus braunii has been ordered from
the University of Texas

9. ORDERING ALGAE FROM
UAQ RESEARCH CENTRE
 After finishing the tour in UAQ research centre,
we were provided with 1.5 liter of three types of
microalgae which are:
 Chlorella
 Nannochloropesis
 Tetraselmis

10. BUILDING THE CULTIVATION
REACTOR
Design specifications
•Material of PVC with thickness of 6, 8 and 10 mm
•Neon tubes
•Fittings and connections
•Hoses and pipes
Dimensions
Four Rooms (40 X 40 X 75 cm)
Offset to install the neon lights (5 cm) from all sides

11. Analysis
The outer case of the cultivation reactor is made
of 6mm thickness plastic with 10mm base. The
offset will be filled with neon lights. The amount
of light supported to the culture has a
proportional effect with the algae growth rate.
 The cultivation reactor is divided to four
rooms, where each room is 40cm X 40cm.

12. The bottom case of the reactor has been drilled to feed the culture with CO2 and
to drain the water if needed. Water and nutrients will be fed from the upper
cover of the room. CO2 are being used in cylinders, and it is connected to the
reactor with tubes which will bubble the CO2 in the reactor, and the bubbling will
help the media to be mixed at the same time.

13. The base of the reactor has been manufactured to keep the reactor with a suitable
height from the ground and to be moved easily with four wheels from its bottom, with
considering the high volume of the cultivation reactor, which will lead for a high mass
of it, the base has been manufactured with a thick iron material to avoid any fracture
or cracks.

15. PREPARING THE PERFECT
MEDIA
Once algae has been ordered from University of Texas,
the manual of the media that will help algae growing
efficiently was provided, where the media name is Bristol,
which consists of many chemical components and
Proteose Peptone with 6.8 pH. The components of Bristol
medium are:
•Sodium nitrate NaNO3
•Calcium chloride CaCl2·2H2O
•Magnesium sulfate MgSO4·7H2O
•Dipotassium phosphate K2HPO4
•Sodium chloride NaCl

16. BUILDING THE BIOREACTOR
A bioreactor which has a shape near to the cultivation reactor will be used to
grow microalgae strain with feeding it from the diesel engine's exhaust gases.

17. Design specifications:
•The outer case of the cultivation reactor is made from 6mm thick
plastic with 10 mm to fill it with neon lights as shown in
•The cultivation reactor is one square, where each square is 54 cm X
54 cm.
•The base of the reactor has been manufactured to keep the reactor
with a suitable height from the ground and to be moved easily with
four wheels from its bottom, with considering the volume of the
reactor, the base has been manufactured with a thick iron material to
avoid any fracture or cracks.

18. LEAKAGE PROBLEM
The leakage problem occurred for the cultivation reactor happened for the bioreactor
also. Therefore, it was covered by double plastic layer to prevent the leakage.

19. TESTING DIESEL ENGINE
EMISSIONS
There are many methods for determining total organic carbon
(TOC). TOC analyzer is one of the most important analytical
methods to know how much the TOC in the sample. Four samples
have been taken to test their TOC using the TOC analyzer in the
civil engineering department. These samples are:
• Sample one: Tap water
• Sample two: water bubbled by diesel engine's exhaust gases
for 30 minutes.
• Sample three: water bubbled by diesel engine's exhaust gases
for 60 minutes.
• Sample four: water bubbled by diesel engine's exhaust gases
for 120 minutes.

20. The steps of using the device:
-inject sample.
-burn it at 800 c.
-Detect TOC.

21. THE TOC TEST FOR FOUR
SAMPLES WITH DIFFERENT
FEEDING TIME
Sample # TOC
Sample 1 10.34 mg/L
Sample 2 31.9 mg/L
Sample 3 126.7 mg/L
Sample 4 832.4 mg/L
It is observed that while the output of the diesel engine increases, the TOC will increase.

22. CULTIVATING THE
MICROALGAE
 Sub culturing microalgae in bottles
 To grow the microalgae under the perfect
conditions (Temp., Perfect media, PH,
Lighting)
 10 L bottles were used.
 Two types of microalgae were cultivated in the lab.
(chlorella and Ankistrodesmus braunii).
 Sub culturing will double the original
amount.

23. SUB CULTURING
MICROALGAE IN BOTTLES
 10 L Bottles were in use.
 Prepare ten liters of the perfect media.
 Take five liters of microalgae from the bottle which
needs to be break.
 Mix the five liters of microalgae with liters liters of the
perfect media.
 Also add five liters of perfect media to the broken
one.
 After three to four days we will have twenty liters of
microalgae.

24. SUB CULTURING
MICROALGAE IN BOTTLES

25. CULTIVATING MICROALGAE IN
THE BIOREACTOR
 After growing the chlorella microalgae in 10 L
bottles, it was dumped in the bioreactor.
 Diesel engine output as feeding to the
microalgae 30 minutes everyday.
 Monitoring the density of the microalgae in
consistent time.

26. CULTIVATING MICROALGAE IN
THE BIOREACTOR

27. CULTIVATING MICROALGAE
IN THE OPEN POND
 Open pond or raceway pond is a shallow artificial
pond used in the cultivation of algae.
 The pond is divided into a rectangular grid, with each
rectangle containing one channel in the shape of an
oval, like an automotive raceway circuit.
 Each rectangle contains a paddle wheel to make the
water flow continuously around the circuit .

28. CULTIVATING MICROALGAE
IN THE OPEN POND
 Benefits: -
 Cheaper to construct compared with other types of
reactors.
 Largest production capacities relative to other
systems of comparable size and cost.
 Natural lighting.
 Using the sewage water/Power Stations Output.
 A small amount of power needed to run the motor.
 Easy to maintain.

29. CULTIVATING MICROALGAE
IN THE OPEN POND
 Design of the open pond
 Location: - Al Ain Main Unit for treating the wastewater
 Length: - 8 m, Width: - 2 m, Depth: - 30 cm
 Area: - 3 m2
 Distal end, hydraulic radius
 Ground infrastructure prepared for no leakage
 Pond lining (concrete)
 Liquid flow with paddle wheel
 Flow velocity (laminar liquid flow velocity, 5-40 cm/sec)
 Pond accessories (drainage, cleaning, pumps, pipes)
 Water tank with ball valve for compensation
 Temperature range from 30 to 50 C

30. CULTIVATING MICROALGAE
IN THE OPEN POND
 CAD Drawing

31. CULTIVATING MICROALGAE
IN THE OPEN POND
 Pond Start up
 1 ton of sea water
 1 ton of microalgae (Nannochloropesis)
 500 liters of fresh water
 500 liters of treated water
 Properties of the treated water are
 TOC = 5 ppm
 Ammonia = 3 ppm

32. CULTIVATING MICROALGAE
IN THE OPEN POND
 TOC Monitoring
 First day TOC= 420 ppm
 After 48 Hours TOC= 210 ppm
 After 72 Hours TOC= 103 ppm
 Cells Density Monitoring (after the addition of 120
L of raw sewage TOC 300 ppm, Ammonia 38 ppm)
 After 24 hours it was 2.47 x 105 cells/ml
 After 48 hours it was 4.12 x 106 cells/ml
 After 72 hours it was 2.00 x 108 cells/ml

33. CULTIVATING MICROALGAE
IN THE OPEN POND

34. CULTIVATING MICROALGAE
IN THE OPEN POND

35. SEPARATION OF
MICROALGAE FROM WATER
 Methods
 Filtration
Filtration is carried out commonly on membranes
of modified Cellulose with the aid of a suction
pump.
 Drying
In this method the algae are kept in low height
containers under the sun light.

36. SEPARATION OF
MICROALGAE FROM WATER
 Flocculation
Flocculation is a method of separating algae from
the medium by using chemicals to force the algae
to form lumps.
 Flotation
Usually flotation is used in combination with
flocculation for Algae Harvesting in waste water.
It is a simple method by which algae can be made
to float on the surface of the medium and
removed as scum.

37. SEPARATION OF
MICROALGAE FROM WATER
 Centrifugation
Centrifugation is a method of separating algae from
the medium by using a centrifuge to cause the algae
to settle to the bottom of a flask or tank.
Three methods were used in the project to separate
microalgae from water: -
 Drying
 Centrifuging
 Filtering

38. SEPARATION OF
MICROALGAE FROM WATER
 Drying

39. SEPARATION OF
MICROALGAE FROM WATER
 Centrifuging

40. COST ANALYSIS
 Cost of the open pond building
 Total Volume of the open pond = 1.547 m3
 Concrete cost = total concrete volume (m3) x
Price of concrete per m3.
= 1.547 m3 x 1000 AED/ m3 = 1547 AED
 Cost of 3 labors to build the pond = 3 labors x 100
AED/labor = 300 AED
 Cost of the compensating tank with ball valve =
495 AED

41. COST ANALYSIS
 Cost of the paddle wheel with motor = 1300 AED
• Total Cost of the pond = 1547 + 300 + 495 + 1300 =
3642 AED
 The Chemical Process Cost
 Building Chemical Lab = 10000 AED
 Chemicals = 3000 AED
 Sonicator = 7340 AED
 Centrifuging Machine = 5000 AED
 Distiller = 8000 AED
 Importing Algae Sample = 500 AED
 Fridge = 630 AED
 40 Pans or low depth containers to dry the Algae = 1500 AED

42. COST ANALYSIS
 Total Initial Cost for the chemical process = 10000
+ 3000 + 7340 + 5000 + 8000 + 500 + 630 + 1500
= 35970 AED
 Maintenance & Delivery = 1500 AED/Month
 Lab Specialist = 5000 AED/Month