CO2 to Bioplastics: Beneficial Re-use of Carbon Emissions from Coal-fired Power Plants using Microalgae
This project sought to address the technical and economic barriers to carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and utilization using microalgae. Specifically, a dual photobioreactor (PBR)/open raceway pond (ORP) cultivation system was evaluated with respect to capital and operational costs, productivity, and culture health, and compared to an ORP-only cultivation system. In the dual (or “hybrid”) system, a cyclic flow PBR was used to provide inoculum for two open raceway ponds after each harvest, with the hypothesis that this PBR + pond system should result in improved performance compared to traditional raceway ponds. Two other raceway ponds were operated conventionally as a control, the experiments being performed at Duke Energy’s East Bend Station in northern KY using coal-derived flue gas as the CO2 source. Although algae productivity achieved was mediocre due to the fact that the experiments had to be performed late in the growing season when climatic conditions were not optimal for high growth, the hybrid cultivation system showed a higher level of algae productivity (statistically significant) compared to the traditional ponds. In order to realize the maximum value of the algal biomass produced, fractionation of the biomass was examined. Bioplastic compounding and material characterization was subsequently performed using three feed stocks: whole biomass, lipid-extracted biomass and the proteinaceous residue from full fractionation. In general, the whole and lipid-extracted biomass gave similar results in terms of the properties of the resulting bioplastics, while the proteinaceous residue showed promise for the production of a polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT) blend. Finally, sustainability assessment of a putative biorefinery system was conducted, including techno-economic and life cycle impact assessment. Nine different production scenarios were considered, comprising combinations of the three different biomass growth architectures (ORP, PBR and dual PBR-ORP systems) coupled with three different algae biomass processing pathways (drying only, lipid extraction and fractionation). Results show that the minimum selling price of the bioplastic feed stock (BPFS) is within the realm of economic competition with prices as low as $970 USD tonne-1. Additionally, life cycle impact assessment results indicate drastic improvements in performance of the produced BPFS, with reductions in greenhouse gas emissions ranging between 67 and 116% compared to a petroleum based plastic feedstock.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of Kentucky, Lexington, KY (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE), Clean Coal and Carbon Management
- Contributing Organization:
- Algix LLC; Colorado State University
- DOE Contract Number:
- FE0029623
- OSTI ID:
- 1642109
- Report Number(s):
- DE-FE0029623
- Resource Relation:
- Related Information: B.D. Beckstrom, M.H. Wilson, M. Crocker, J.C. Quinn, “Bioplastic production from microalgae with fuel co-products: A techno-economic and life-cycle assessment”, Algal Research, 46 (2020) 101769.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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