International Journal of Sustainable and Green Energy

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Microalgae Biomass as an Alternative Substrate in Biogas Production

Received: 20 November 2014    Accepted: 24 November 2014    Published: 11 January 2015
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Abstract

The running down of fossil energy sources makes the production of bioenergy an expected need worldwide. Therefore, energy crops have gained increasing attention in recent years as a source for the production of bioenergy because they do not compete with food crops. Microalgae have numerous advantages such as fast growth rates and not competing with food production. Because of the fast growth, many high valuable products are generated, e.g. food, biofuel, etc. Due to the energy crisis, renewable energy becomes a popular issue in this world today and there are several alternatives such as bioenergy, solar, wind, tide, geothermal, etc. For bioenergy, algae are the third generation biofuel crop. There is an increased demand for biogas in the society and one way to meet this is to use cultivated microalgae as fermentation substrate. In the present study, we maintained algae growth process and biomass production in autotrophic condition continuously for over 2 month’s period. Growth system (photobioreactor) was setup under room temperature and continuous illumination light through fluorescent lamps; light intensity was average as 48.31 [µmol-1m-2 per µA]. In reactor, dominant microalgae species were including Anabaena sp., Chlorella sp., Oscillatoria sp., Oedogonium sp. and Scenedesmus sp. The content of total solids (TS) and volatile solids (VS) in the algae biomass was measured; the results were average as 12500 g/m3 and 6320 g/m3, respectively. Furthermore, microalgal biomass is a potentially valuable fermentation substrate, and produce over 60% of methane gas.

DOI 10.11648/j.ijrse.s.2015040101.13
Published in International Journal of Sustainable and Green Energy (Volume 4, Issue 1-1, January 2015)

This article belongs to the Special Issue Renewable Energy Applications in the Agricultural Field and Natural Resource Technology

Page(s) 13-19
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Microalgae, Biomass, Bio-Reactor, Fermentation Feedstock, Biogas

References
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Author Information
  • School of Renewable Energy, Maejo University, Sansai, Chiang Mai-50290, Thailand

  • School of Renewable Energy, Maejo University, Sansai, Chiang Mai-50290, Thailand

  • Faculty of Fisheries Technology and Aquatic Resources, Maejo University, Sansai, Chiang Mai 50290, Thailand

  • Program in Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, Maejo University, Sansai, Chiang Mai-50290, Thailand

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  • APA Style

    Rameshprabu Ramaraj, Natthawud Dussadee, Niwooti Whangchai, Yuwalee Unpaprom. (2015). Microalgae Biomass as an Alternative Substrate in Biogas Production. International Journal of Sustainable and Green Energy, 4(1-1), 13-19. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijrse.s.2015040101.13

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    ACS Style

    Rameshprabu Ramaraj; Natthawud Dussadee; Niwooti Whangchai; Yuwalee Unpaprom. Microalgae Biomass as an Alternative Substrate in Biogas Production. Int. J. Sustain. Green Energy 2015, 4(1-1), 13-19. doi: 10.11648/j.ijrse.s.2015040101.13

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    AMA Style

    Rameshprabu Ramaraj, Natthawud Dussadee, Niwooti Whangchai, Yuwalee Unpaprom. Microalgae Biomass as an Alternative Substrate in Biogas Production. Int J Sustain Green Energy. 2015;4(1-1):13-19. doi: 10.11648/j.ijrse.s.2015040101.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijrse.s.2015040101.13,
      author = {Rameshprabu Ramaraj and Natthawud Dussadee and Niwooti Whangchai and Yuwalee Unpaprom},
      title = {Microalgae Biomass as an Alternative Substrate in Biogas Production},
      journal = {International Journal of Sustainable and Green Energy},
      volume = {4},
      number = {1-1},
      pages = {13-19},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijrse.s.2015040101.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijrse.s.2015040101.13},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijrse.s.2015040101.13},
      abstract = {The running down of fossil energy sources makes the production of bioenergy an expected need worldwide. Therefore, energy crops have gained increasing attention in recent years as a source for the production of bioenergy because they do not compete with food crops. Microalgae have numerous advantages such as fast growth rates and not competing with food production. Because of the fast growth, many high valuable products are generated, e.g. food, biofuel, etc. Due to the energy crisis, renewable energy becomes a popular issue in this world today and there are several alternatives such as bioenergy, solar, wind, tide, geothermal, etc. For bioenergy, algae are the third generation biofuel crop. There is an increased demand for biogas in the society and one way to meet this is to use cultivated microalgae as fermentation substrate. In the present study, we maintained algae growth process and biomass production in autotrophic condition continuously for over 2 month’s period. Growth system (photobioreactor) was setup under room temperature and continuous illumination light through fluorescent lamps; light intensity was average as 48.31 [µmol-1m-2 per µA]. In reactor, dominant microalgae species were including Anabaena sp., Chlorella sp., Oscillatoria sp., Oedogonium sp. and Scenedesmus sp. The content of total solids (TS) and volatile solids (VS) in the algae biomass was measured; the results were average as 12500 g/m3 and 6320 g/m3, respectively. Furthermore, microalgal biomass is a potentially valuable fermentation substrate, and produce over 60% of methane gas.},
     year = {2015}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Microalgae Biomass as an Alternative Substrate in Biogas Production
    AU  - Rameshprabu Ramaraj
    AU  - Natthawud Dussadee
    AU  - Niwooti Whangchai
    AU  - Yuwalee Unpaprom
    Y1  - 2015/01/11
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    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijrse.s.2015040101.13
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    JF  - International Journal of Sustainable and Green Energy
    JO  - International Journal of Sustainable and Green Energy
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    EP  - 19
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2575-1549
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijrse.s.2015040101.13
    AB  - The running down of fossil energy sources makes the production of bioenergy an expected need worldwide. Therefore, energy crops have gained increasing attention in recent years as a source for the production of bioenergy because they do not compete with food crops. Microalgae have numerous advantages such as fast growth rates and not competing with food production. Because of the fast growth, many high valuable products are generated, e.g. food, biofuel, etc. Due to the energy crisis, renewable energy becomes a popular issue in this world today and there are several alternatives such as bioenergy, solar, wind, tide, geothermal, etc. For bioenergy, algae are the third generation biofuel crop. There is an increased demand for biogas in the society and one way to meet this is to use cultivated microalgae as fermentation substrate. In the present study, we maintained algae growth process and biomass production in autotrophic condition continuously for over 2 month’s period. Growth system (photobioreactor) was setup under room temperature and continuous illumination light through fluorescent lamps; light intensity was average as 48.31 [µmol-1m-2 per µA]. In reactor, dominant microalgae species were including Anabaena sp., Chlorella sp., Oscillatoria sp., Oedogonium sp. and Scenedesmus sp. The content of total solids (TS) and volatile solids (VS) in the algae biomass was measured; the results were average as 12500 g/m3 and 6320 g/m3, respectively. Furthermore, microalgal biomass is a potentially valuable fermentation substrate, and produce over 60% of methane gas.
    VL  - 4
    IS  - 1-1
    ER  - 

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