Javascript Disabled Detected

You currently have javascript disabled. Several functions may not work. Please re-enable javascript to access full functionality.

Algae growth

Started by Guest_AlgaeForFuel_* , Dec 29 2007 05:33 AM

Please log in to reply

19 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_AlgaeForFuel_*

Guests

Posted 29 December 2007 - 05:33 AM

Hello , I'm new to this forum and wanted to post a question.

Has anyone here had a severe case of algae grwoth that couldn't be controlled and what caused this to occur and how long did it take to completly cloud up?

I'm doing my own experiments growing Algae strains for the production of algae oil to be used in the Biodiesel process.

There are a few companies that are attempting to develope the best strain & methods

CO2 seems to be the favorite additive to asssist the growth process , but some strains only reduce 50% of initial CO2 introduced.

Nutrients such as sewage waste is also being used to some degree to feed Algae.

Is there a strain that grows fast and with low light - colder enviroments (between 85 & 45 degree F)

Water flow is also a factor in growth rate ...

but I guess that Algae is not as welcome here as one would want , so maybe I could find some new information about a problem someone had and what happened?

Any information would be helpful :biggrin:

Thanks

Back to top

#2 Guest_fishyguy_*

Guests

Posted 29 December 2007 - 09:12 AM

I dont know if this will help you but I have a tank that I cant stop the algea growth. I beleive it is because of the light it is a two tube shope light with walmart 65ook bulbs. It sucks!

Back to top

#3 Guest_mikez_*

Guests

Posted 29 December 2007 - 09:13 AM

Hmmm...
Algae can be used to make fuel?
Eureka! That's the answer to two of my bigest problems!
Hair algae from Hell that threatens to climb out of my planted 90 gal and strangle my house and the furnace from Hell that sucks down fuel oil like a starving monster.
If I could somehow hook that algae factory directly to my furnace......

Sorry, don't mean to mock your enquiry [if it's really a serious enquiry], I just found it humerous because I really am struggling with both issues.

Back to top

#4 Guest_fuzzyletters_*

Guests

Posted 29 December 2007 - 10:04 AM

I feel like on the Planet Earth series they described an ecosystem in a certain cave in Mexico that was based on algae growing in extreme darkness and presumably low temperature--in sulfuric acid. I don't know if that's what you're looking for, but it might be worth looking into.

Back to top

#5 Guest_bullhead_*

Guests

Posted 29 December 2007 - 10:14 AM

There was an article on this very subject in Popular Science a month or two ago. Might be of use. I have tossed the magazine, so I cannot provide much detail. Search the PopSci website. It seems like the big issues were finding a good species of algae to use, then preventing others from contaminating the batch.

Back to top

#6 Guest_drewish_*

Guests

Posted 29 December 2007 - 01:59 PM

This has nothing to do with what we are trying to do here on this forum, but out of curiosity, I will leave it for now.

Back to top

#7 Guest_nativeplanter_*

Guests

Posted 29 December 2007 - 02:27 PM

Actually, I think it does relate to us. Especially with the experiments using wastewater to grow the algae. If treatment plants could do this, nutrient loads to the receiving waters could be lowered, thus improving water quality and native fish habitat. This is an especially important issue in the Chesapeake Bay, and is timely due to the new load allocations.

AlgaeForFuel, where are you working out of? University? Private Company? I find this interesting.

Back to top

#8 Guest_drewish_*

Guests

Posted 29 December 2007 - 03:58 PM

Well, if you put it that way, then yes I can see how it can benefit native fishes.

I didn't read it this way, but if that is the case, then converse!

Back to top

#9 Guest_mikez_*

Guests

Posted 29 December 2007 - 05:57 PM

Actually, I think it does relate to us. Especially with the experiments using wastewater to grow the algae. If treatment plants could do this, nutrient loads to the receiving waters could be lowered, thus improving water quality and native fish habitat. This is an especially important issue in the Chesapeake Bay, and is timely due to the new load allocations.

AlgaeForFuel, where are you working out of? University? Private Company? I find this interesting.

Using plants for water treatment is past the experimental stage. There are treatment plants around the country and around the world using plants right now. There are many limitations and it will never replace conventional treatment but it's a good green supliment to existing technology.
As you know, plants have been effectively used as biological filtration in fresh and saltwater aquariums for years.
The original water treatment plant was a nice big healthy swamp with lots of live green plants. :biggrin:

Not really sure what can be learned from aquarium keepers about making fuel from algae. It's pretty straight forward; lots of light, lots of nutrients and little competition for said light and food.
I AM interested in the effect of the spectral power curve of various types of lighting RE algae vs higher plants. If anyone has references on that, I'd be very interested and it might be useful to Algaeforfuel as well.

Back to top

#10 Guest_critterguy_*

Guests

Posted 31 December 2007 - 01:52 AM

A small town actually has its sewer system connected to an artificial wetland(Arcata, California). But it might be tough to do for a city like LA.

What about cyanobacteria? I dunno if hair algae(think it is spirogella?) is being experimented on but that is the standard stuff that appears in most ponds I've seen.

Back to top

#11 Guest_truf_*

Guests

Posted 31 December 2007 - 01:54 PM

I read about the use of algae as fuel in the July 2007 issue of Popular Science. This is how THEY did it: "First, grow colonies of Botryococcus braunii algae (a species prone to storing fat) in long thin transparent plastic bags in the desert. As the colonies mature, starve them of nitrogen. The cells react to the low nutrient supply by entering survival mode and producing extra fats. When they've created enough fat, collect the cells and break them apart. Filter out the large organelles and cell membranes, and then use solvents like ethanol to separate out the fats from the water-soluble proteins and sugars. Purify the collected fats, and evaporate the solvent. Finally, put the fats in a chemical reactor to transform them into biodiesel (a process called transesterification)."
-Thom

Back to top

#12 Guest_fishlvr_*

Guests

Posted 31 December 2007 - 02:00 PM

I read about the use of algae as fuel in the July 2007 issue of Popular Science. This is how THEY did it: "First, grow colonies of Botryococcus braunii algae (a species prone to storing fat) in long thin transparent plastic bags in the desert. As the colonies mature, starve them of nitrogen. The cells react to the low nutrient supply by entering survival mode and producing extra fats. When they've created enough fat, collect the cells and break them apart. Filter out the large organelles and cell membranes, and then use solvents like ethanol to separate out the fats from the water-soluble proteins and sugars. Purify the collected fats, and evaporate the solvent. Finally, put the fats in a chemical reactor to transform them into biodiesel (a process called transesterification)."
-Thom

Wow. It would be nice if it could be mass produced or made by average people. I don't have the tools to take out cell membranes and organelles.

Back to top

#13 Guest_truf_*

Guests

Posted 31 December 2007 - 02:18 PM

Wow. It would be nice if it could be mass produced or made by average people. I don't have the tools to take out cell membranes and organelles.

I would think that once the cells have been broken down, a centrifuge would work?

Or simply a big "coffee filter"

Back to top

#14 Guest_Irate Mormon_*

Guests

Posted 31 December 2007 - 07:07 PM

Sounds like it might take more energy to create this fuel than you would regain in the end. Plus, the enviro's would be all upset about how you're destroying the desert with these plastic "algae farms". Would take water too - not a common thing to find in the desert.

Back to top

#15 Guest_fishlvr_*

Guests

Posted 31 December 2007 - 07:25 PM

Sounds like it might take more energy to create this fuel than you would regain in the end. Plus, the enviro's would be all upset about how you're destroying the desert with these plastic "algae farms". Would take water too - not a common thing to find in the desert.

You have a good point. It would be nice if it could be mass-produced though. Maybe they would use irrigation systems for water in the desert?

Back to top

#16 Guest_mikez_*

Guests

Posted 31 December 2007 - 07:41 PM

. Would take water too - not a common thing to find in the desert.

Unless they used "grey" water - the recycled water produced by wastewater treatment plants. More and more people live in the desert and they all have to...eliminate. The water that's left after being treated is often discharged into rivers or into the ground water. Some is used for irrigation of golf courses and other non-food uses. It'd be perfect for growing algae. In fact, one of the biggest challenges faced by treatment plants is reduction of nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorous before returning the effluent to the environment. If those nutrients could be put to use growing algae, millions of dollars would be saved just in treatment plant operations, nevermind what possible profits might be realized if the fuel production idea took off.
Hmm, sounds interesting. Remember, you saw it here first folks. :biggrin:

Back to top

#17 Guest_puchisapo_*

Guests

Posted 31 December 2007 - 09:58 PM

they are trying this here at UW-Madison. the idea is to process lake algae to ethanol, with the dual benefit of sequestering excess Phosphorous and other nurtients/pollutants from our badly-polluted area lakes. i don't know how far they've gotten. if you search with "Madison", "limnology", "algae", "fuel", etc., you might find something.

Back to top

#18 Guest_scottefontay_*

Guests

Posted 06 January 2008 - 01:20 AM

The actual process of producing (quality) biodiesel from vegetable based oils, including those from algae, is pretty simple and can be done in the garage. I have made a few thousand gallons over the past couple years from waste restaurant fryer oil (asian restaurants are generally the best sources FYI). Biofuels can NEVER EVER EVER solve our fossil fuel problems. If we tried to grow enough of anything to feed our use billions of people would starve and/or we would end up eradicating countless more species. There are over 6.5 million acres of agricultural land that the US gov't subsidizes farmers not to farm. Growing high yeild oil crops on this land (rape seed, canola, soy, etc.) would only produce ~15% of our domestic diesel fuel use.

Want to treat sewage (tertiarty or quaternary treatment) and produce something useful? Grow industrial hemp (NOT marijauna). Food, fuel, fiber. Best natural rope in the world, it'll grow anywhere and the plant itself is a natural insecticide. Make biodiesel from the oils, and all of the unused plant waste can be digested into sugars and fermented to ethanol.

Mikez, that being said, I will be feeding my oil monster in the basement (and my meat-head truck) as much biodiesel I can brew this summer!! $1k for 300 gallons sure stung on friday!!!

my 2cents.

www.biodieselcommunity.org

Back to top

#19 Guest_fishfool_*

Guests

Posted 25 June 2008 - 05:08 AM

hey I'm from this network of aquarium enthusiasts and you can bet your bippy that we have some severe algae problems with the freshwater tanks, there is a product called chemiclean, and there are also live animal solutions like ghost shrimp which eat it up... good luck - also check this out, may make you happy to read it gas2.org/2008/03/29/first-algae-biodiesel-plant-goes-online-april-1-2008/

Back to top

#20 Guest_jase_*

Guests

Posted 25 June 2008 - 08:59 AM

I've been planning an algae-based nutrient removal system for my tanks for some time. I'm thinking sheets of glass or screen as the substrate, and running water through it after mechanical and biological filtration. Would be best if I could site it near a window to reduce energy, but fluorescent or LED lights would be an option. Maybe someday soon I'll have the time to trial it.