(722g) Premium Animal Feed from Filamentous Algae Grown on Florida Power Plant CO2

Microalgae cultivation in large-scale raceway ponds is being developed by various organizations for production of commodities, in particular for animal feeds—a billion ton market, valued at over US$500 billion world-wide. Microalgae production requires concentrated CO₂ sources, with CO₂ supply being a major cost and engineering challenge. A coal- and natural gas-fired power plant owned by the Orlando Utilities Commission (Florida), is the focus of experimental and regional scale-up planning studies – 4,000 ha (10,000 acres) of CO₂ distribution and algae cultivation – all within 4 km of the power plant. At this power plant, the Stanton Energy Center (SEC), MicroBio Engineering Inc. is operating an algae carbon capture and utilization (ACCU) research facility, with a slipstream of scrubbed flue gas. The facility is being used to develop cultivation techniques for various easy-to-harvest filamentous algal strains suitable for production in Florida of biomass rich in omega-3 and -6 fatty acids and other phytonutrients valued in animal feeds. Poultry feeding trials have been conducted with laying hens at Cal Poly State University. Here we model and compare alternatives technologies for the capture, concentration, transport and utilization for algae cultivation using flue gas CO₂ from both coal- and natural gas-fired power plants at the SEC. Algae cultivation data are used as inputs to scale-up engineering designs, techno-economic analysis, and environmental life cycle assessments for the capture, concentration, and transport up to 40 km to large-scale algae cultivation facilities. The outputs are the projected costs of CO₂ utilization and algal biomass production for commodity animal feeds, at 400,000 tons/year. Although the cost of algae biomass will be higher than soybeans, it is justified by a greater content of phytonutrients, as well as the overall reductions in CO₂ emissions and other environmental benefits.

Supported by DOE NETL (National Energy Technology Laboratory) Award DE-FE-0031717