Electro-selective Fermentation of Scenedesmus acutus algae for enhanced lipid extraction
Description
The microalgae Scenedesmus have been regarded as a potential source for biofuel production, having up to ~30% of dry weight as lipids used for biodiesel fuel production. Electro-selective fermentation (ESF) is a novel approach that can selectively degrade proteins and carbohydrates while conserving lipids within algal cells, while simultaneously enhancing lipid wet-extraction and biohydrogenation. ESF is a combination of SF and Microbial Electrolysis Cell (MEC) technologies. Experiments reported here prove that ESF is an effective means of enhancing lipid wet-extraction by ~50% and achieving 36% higher lipid saturation conversion, compared to SF, over 30 days of semi-continuous operation. Anode-respiring bacteria (ARB) residing on the anode surface produced a current that led to increased rate of organic substrate utilization, protein degradation, and ultimately enhanced lipid extraction and biohydrogenation that converted unsaturated to saturated fatty-acids. Thus, ESF provides a promising method for enhancing lipid extraction for biofuel production.
Date Created
The date the item was original created (prior to any relationship with the ASU Digital Repositories.)
2019-05
Agent
- Author (aut): Rastogi, Neil K
- Thesis director: Rittmann, Bruce
- Committee member: Liu, Liu
- Contributor (ctb): Chemical Engineering Program
- Contributor (ctb): Chemical Engineering Program
- Contributor (ctb): Barrett, The Honors College