(203l) Microalgae Strain Selection and System Design for Biodiesel Production

Microalgae utilizes atmospheric carbon and energy from the sun for growth and is generally more efficient than land plants in producing biodiesel. Although it seems like a promising technology to reduce fossil fuel dependence and provide environmental benefits, there is no commercial scale successful system existing in the world. It is essential to simulate the system and evaluate the economic and environmental impacts before investments. A Mix Integer Nonlinear Programming (MINLP) model for designing microalgae based biodiesel system is proposed to investigate the influence of microalgae strain properties and technology options for biodiesel production, it also encompasses quantitative and qualitative insights into the financial and environmental impact of the system. The model was tested by evaluating the production of biodiesel from twelve microalgae strains. Based on the different inherent properties, the model selects the optimal technology combination at each processing stage for different strains. The results demonstrate that the design of microalgae biodiesel systems relies on internal strain properties and external technology advancements, while strain properties are the key factors. A feasible commercial scale system requires strains with high lipid productivity as well as large effective diameter, effective processing techniques, and government subsidies.