Prediction of microalgae hydrothermal liquefaction products from feedstock biochemical composition

Leow, Shijie; Witter, John R.; Vardon, Derek R.; Sharma, Brajendra K.; Guest, Jeremy S.; Strathmann, Timothy J.

doi:10.1039/C5GC00574D

Title: Prediction of microalgae hydrothermal liquefaction products from feedstock biochemical composition

Journal Article · 11 May 2015 · Green Chemistry

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/C5GC00574D · OSTI ID:1242266

Leow, Shijie ^[1]; Witter, John R. ^[1]; Vardon, Derek R. ^[2]; Sharma, Brajendra K. ^[3]; Guest, Jeremy S. ^[1]; Strathmann, Timothy J. ^[1]

Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL (United States)
Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL (United States); National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL (United States)

Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) uses water under elevated temperatures and pressures (200–350 °C, 5–20 MPa) to convert biomass into liquid “biocrude” oil. Despite extensive reports on factors influencing microalgae cell composition during cultivation and separate reports on HTL products linked to cell composition, the field still lacks a quantitative model to predict HTL conversion product yield and qualities from feedstock biochemical composition; the tailoring of microalgae feedstock for downstream conversion is a unique and critical aspect of microalgae biofuels that must be leveraged upon for optimization of the whole process. This study developed predictive relationships for HTL biocrude yield and other conversion product characteristics based on HTL of Nannochloropsis oculata batches harvested with a wide range of compositions (23–59% dw lipids, 58–17% dw proteins, 12–22% dw carbohydrates) and a defatted batch (0% dw lipids, 75% dw proteins, 19% dw carbohydrates). HTL biocrude yield (33–68% dw) and carbon distribution (49–83%) increased in proportion to the fatty acid (FA) content. A component additivity model (predicting biocrude yield from lipid, protein, and carbohydrates) was more accurate predicting literature yields for diverse microalgae species than previous additivity models derived from model compounds. FA profiling of the biocrude product showed strong links to the initial feedstock FA profile of the lipid component, demonstrating that HTL acts as a water-based extraction process for FAs; the remainder non-FA structural components could be represented using the defatted batch. These findings were used to introduce a new FA-based model that predicts biocrude oil yields along with other critical parameters, and is capable of adjusting for the wide variations in HTL methodology and microalgae species through the defatted batch. Lastly, the FA model was linked to an upstream cultivation model (Phototrophic Process Model), providing for the first time an integrated modeling framework to overcome a critical barrier to microalgae-derived HTL biofuels and enable predictive analysis of the overall microalgal-to-biofuel process.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Cite

Export

Save

Research Organization:: NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States))

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

OSTI ID:: 1242266

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA--5100-64673

Journal Information:: Green Chemistry, Journal Name: Green Chemistry Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 17; ISSN GRCHFJ; ISSN 1463-9262

Publisher:: Royal Society of ChemistryCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (54)

Microalgae for oil: Strain selection, induction of lipid synthesis and outdoor mass cultivation in a low-cost photobioreactor Rodolfi, Liliana; Chini Zittelli, Graziella; Bassi, Niccolò Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Vol. 102, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1002/bit.22033	journal	January 2009
Hydrolysis of fatty acid esters in subcritical water Kocsisová, Teodora; Juhasz, Jozsef; Cvengroš, Ján European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology, Vol. 108, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1002/ejlt.200600061	journal	August 2006
Patterns of variation in the lipid class and fatty acid composition of Nannochloropsis oculata (Eustigmatophyceae) during batch culture: I. The growth cycle Hodgson, Paul A.; Henderson, R. James; Sargent, John R. Journal of Applied Phycology, Vol. 3, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00003699	journal	June 1991
Changes in the lipid composition and maximisation of the polyunsaturated fatty acid content of three microalgae grown in mass culture Dunstan, G. A.; Volkman, J. K.; Barrett, S. M. Journal of Applied Phycology, Vol. 5, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02182424	journal	February 1993
Rapid separation of neutral lipids, free fatty acids and polar lipids using prepacked silica sep-Pak columns Hamilton, James G.; Comai, Karen Lipids, Vol. 23, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02535281	journal	December 1988
Accurate and reliable quantification of total microalgal fuel potential as fatty acid methyl esters by in situ transesterification Laurens, Lieve M. L.; Quinn, Matthew; Van Wychen, Stefanie Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, Vol. 403, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-012-5814-0	journal	February 2012
Oil production from algal cells of Dunaliella tertiolecta by direct thermochemical liquefaction Minowa, Tomoaki; Yokoyama, Shin-ya; Kishimoto, Michimasa Fuel, Vol. 74, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-2361(95)80001-X	journal	December 1995
Long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid production and partitioning to triacylglycerols in four microalgae Tonon, Thierry; Harvey, David; Larson, Tony R. Phytochemistry, Vol. 61, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-9422(02)00201-7	journal	September 2002
Rapid separation of microbial lipids using solid phase extraction columns Pinkart, Holly C.; Devereux, Richard; Chapman, Peter J. Journal of Microbiological Methods, Vol. 34, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0167-7012(98)00060-8	journal	September 1998
Nutrient recycling of aqueous phase for microalgae cultivation from the hydrothermal liquefaction process Biller, P.; Ross, A. B.; Skill, S. C. Algal Research, Vol. 1, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.algal.2012.02.002	journal	May 2012
A reaction network for the hydrothermal liquefaction of Nannochloropsis sp. Valdez, Peter J.; Savage, Phillip E. Algal Research, Vol. 2, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.algal.2013.08.002	journal	October 2013
Process development for hydrothermal liquefaction of algae feedstocks in a continuous-flow reactor Elliott, Douglas C.; Hart, Todd R.; Schmidt, Andrew J. Algal Research, Vol. 2, Issue 4, p. 445-454 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.algal.2013.08.005	journal	October 2013
Processing biomass in conventional oil refineries: Production of high quality diesel by hydrotreating vegetable oils in heavy vacuum oil mixtures Huber, George W.; O’Connor, Paul; Corma, Avelino Applied Catalysis A: General, Vol. 329 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcata.2007.07.002	journal	October 2007
Hydrothermal liquefaction of Nannochloropsis sp.: Systematic study of process variables and analysis of the product fractions Valdez, Peter J.; Nelson, Michael C.; Wang, Henry Y. Biomass and Bioenergy, Vol. 46 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2012.08.009	journal	November 2012
Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of microalgae for biofuel production: State of the art review and future prospects López Barreiro, Diego; Prins, Wolter; Ronsse, Frederik Biomass and Bioenergy, Vol. 53 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2012.12.029	journal	June 2013
Potential yields and properties of oil from the hydrothermal liquefaction of microalgae with different biochemical content Biller, P.; Ross, A. B. Bioresource Technology, Vol. 102, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2010.06.028	journal	January 2011
Evaluation of microalgae cultivation using recovered aqueous co-product from thermochemical liquefaction of algal biomass Jena, Umakanta; Vaidyanathan, Nisha; Chinnasamy, Senthil Bioresource Technology, Vol. 102, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2010.09.111	journal	February 2011
Catalytic hydrothermal processing of microalgae: Decomposition and upgrading of lipids Biller, P.; Riley, R.; Ross, A. B. Bioresource Technology, Vol. 102, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2010.12.113	journal	April 2011
Effect of operating conditions of thermochemical liquefaction on biocrude production from Spirulina platensis Jena, Umakanta; Das, K. C.; Kastner, J. R. Bioresource Technology, Vol. 102, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2011.02.057	journal	May 2011
Chemical properties of biocrude oil from the hydrothermal liquefaction of Spirulina algae, swine manure, and digested anaerobic sludge Vardon, Derek R.; Sharma, B. K.; Scott, John Bioresource Technology, Vol. 102, Issue 17 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2011.06.041	journal	September 2011
Thermochemical conversion of raw and defatted algal biomass via hydrothermal liquefaction and slow pyrolysis Vardon, Derek R.; Sharma, Brajendra K.; Blazina, Grant V. Bioresource Technology, Vol. 109 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2012.01.008	journal	April 2012
Effects of temperature and nutrient regimes on biomass and lipid production by six oleaginous microalgae in batch culture employing a two-phase cultivation strategy Roleda, Michael Y.; Slocombe, Stephen P.; Leakey, Raymond J. G. Bioresource Technology, Vol. 129 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2012.11.043	journal	February 2013
Influence of strain-specific parameters on hydrothermal liquefaction of microalgae López Barreiro, Diego; Zamalloa, Carlos; Boon, Nico Bioresource Technology, Vol. 146 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2013.07.123	journal	October 2013
Conversion efficiency and oil quality of low-lipid high-protein and high-lipid low-protein microalgae via hydrothermal liquefaction Li, Hao; Liu, Zhidan; Zhang, Yuanhui Bioresource Technology, Vol. 154 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2013.12.074	journal	February 2014
A general kinetic model for the hydrothermal liquefaction of microalgae Valdez, Peter J.; Tocco, Vincent J.; Savage, Phillip E. Bioresource Technology, Vol. 163 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2014.04.013	journal	July 2014
Hydrothermal liquefaction of biomass: A review of subcritical water technologies Toor, Saqib Sohail; Rosendahl, Lasse; Rudolf, Andreas Energy, Vol. 36, Issue 5, p. 2328-2342 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2011.03.013	journal	May 2011
Thermal stability of fatty acids in subcritical water Shin, Hee-Yong; Ryu, Jae-Hun; Park, Sang-Yeob Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis, Vol. 98 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaap.2012.08.003	journal	November 2012
Biofuels from microalgae—A review of technologies for production, processing, and extractions of biofuels and co-products Brennan, Liam; Owende, Philip Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 14, Issue 2, p. 557-577 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2009.10.009	journal	February 2010
A review on process conditions for optimum bio-oil yield in hydrothermal liquefaction of biomass Akhtar, Javaid; Amin, Nor Aishah Saidina Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 15, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2010.11.054	journal	April 2011
Algal Biomass Constituent Analysis: Method Uncertainties and Investigation of the Underlying Measuring Chemistries Laurens, Lieve M. L.; Dempster, Thomas A.; Jones, Howland D. T. Analytical Chemistry, Vol. 84, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1021/ac202668c	journal	January 2012
Colorimetric Method for Determination of Sugars and Related Substances DuBois, Michel.; Gilles, K. A.; Hamilton, J. K. Analytical Chemistry, Vol. 28, Issue 3, p. 350-356 https://doi.org/10.1021/ac60111a017	journal	March 1956
Hydrothermal Liquefaction and Gasification of Nannochloropsis sp. Brown, Tylisha M.; Duan, Peigao; Savage, Phillip E. Energy & Fuels, Vol. 24, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1021/ef100203u	journal	June 2010
Characterization of Product Fractions from Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Nannochloropsis sp. and the Influence of Solvents Valdez, Peter J.; Dickinson, Jacob G.; Savage, Phillip E. Energy & Fuels, Vol. 25, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1021/ef2004046	journal	June 2011
Hydrothermal Treatment (HTT) of Microalgae: Evaluation of the Process As Conversion Method in an Algae Biorefinery Concept Garcia Alba, Laura; Torri, Cristian; Samorì, Chiara Energy & Fuels, Vol. 26, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1021/ef201415s	journal	December 2011
Hydrothermal Treatment (HTT) of Microalgae: Detailed Molecular Characterization of HTT Oil in View of HTT Mechanism Elucidation Torri, Cristian; Garcia Alba, Laura; Samorì, Chiara Energy & Fuels, Vol. 26, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1021/ef201417e	journal	December 2011
Hydrothermal Treatment of Protein, Polysaccharide, and Lipids Alone and in Mixtures Teri, Gule; Luo, Ligang; Savage, Phillip E. Energy & Fuels, Vol. 28, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1021/ef501760d	journal	November 2014
Lumped Pathway Metabolic Model of Organic Carbon Accumulation and Mobilization by the Alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii Guest, Jeremy S.; van Loosdrecht, Mark C. M.; Skerlos, Steven J. Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 47, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1021/es304980y	journal	March 2013
Environmental Life Cycle Comparison of Algae to Other Bioenergy Feedstocks Clarens, Andres F.; Resurreccion, Eleazer P.; White, Mark A. Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 44, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1021/es902838n	journal	March 2010
Squid Oil and Fat Production from Squid Wastes Using Subcritical Water Hydrolysis: Free Fatty Acids and Transesterification Tavakoli, Omid; Yoshida, Hiroyuki Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol. 45, Issue 16 https://doi.org/10.1021/ie0513806	journal	August 2006
Hydrothermal Liquefaction of a Microalga with Heterogeneous Catalysts Duan, Peigao; Savage, Phillip E. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol. 50, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1021/ie100758s	journal	January 2011
Hydrolysis of Vegetable Oils in Sub- and Supercritical Water Holliday, Russell L.; King, Jerry W.; List, Gary R. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol. 36, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1021/ie960668f	journal	March 1997
Biomass Nutrient Profiles of the Microalga Nannochloropsis Rebolloso-Fuentes, M. M.; Navarro-Pérez, A.; García-Camacho, F. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Vol. 49, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1021/jf0010376	journal	June 2001
Probiotic properties of a phytase producing Pediococcus acidilactici strain SMVDUDB2 isolated from traditional fermented cheese product, Kalarei Bhagat, Deepali; Raina, Neelu; Kumar, Amit Scientific Reports, Vol. 10, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-58676-2	journal	February 2020
Bio-oil production from sub- and supercritical water liquefaction of microalgae Dunaliella tertiolecta and related properties Zou, Shuping; Wu, Yulong; Yang, Mingde Energy Environ. Sci., Vol. 3, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1039/C002550J	journal	January 2010
Acid-catalyzed algal biomass pretreatment for integrated lipid and carbohydrate-based biofuels production Laurens, L. M. L.; Nagle, N.; Davis, R. Green Chemistry, Vol. 17, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1039/C4GC01612B	journal	January 2015
Promoting catalysis and high-value product streams by in situ hydroxyapatite crystallization during hydrothermal liquefaction of microalgae cultivated with reclaimed nutrients Roberts, Griffin W.; Sturm, Belinda S. M.; Hamdeh, Umar Green Chemistry, Vol. 17, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1039/C5GC00187K	journal	January 2015
Hydrolysis of soybean oil King, Jerry W.; Holliday, Russell L.; List, Gary R. Green Chemistry, Vol. 1, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1039/a908861j	journal	January 1999
Catalytic treatment of crude algal bio-oil in supercritical water: optimization studies Duan, Peigao; Savage, Phillip E. Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 4, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1039/c0ee00343c	journal	January 2011
Distributions of carbon and nitrogen in the products from hydrothermal liquefaction of low-lipid microalgae Yu, Guo; Zhang, Yuanhui; Schideman, Lance Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 4, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1039/c1ee01541a	journal	January 2011
Algae as a source of renewable chemicals: opportunities and challenges Foley, Patrick M.; Beach, Evan S.; Zimmerman, Julie B. Green Chemistry, Vol. 13, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1039/c1gc00015b	journal	January 2011
Valorization of industrial waste and by-product streams via fermentation for the production of chemicals and biopolymers Koutinas, Apostolis A.; Vlysidis, Anestis; Pleissner, Daniel Chemical Society Reviews, Vol. 43, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1039/c3cs60293a	journal	January 2014
A synergistic combination of algal wastewater treatment and hydrothermal biofuel production maximized by nutrient and carbon recycling Zhou, Yan; Schideman, Lance; Yu, Guo Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 6, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1039/c3ee24241b	journal	January 2013
Algae Under Pressure and in Hot Water Savage, P. E. Science, Vol. 338, Issue 6110 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1224310	journal	November 2012
Process Design and Economics for the Conversion of Algal Biomass to Hydrocarbons: Whole Algae Hydrothermal Liquefaction and Upgrading Jones, Susanne B.; Zhu, Yunhua; Anderson, Daniel B. https://doi.org/10.2172/1126336 PNNL--23227	report	March 2014

Cited By (10)

Wastewater treatment for carbon capture and utilization Lu, Lu; Guest, Jeremy S.; Peters, Catherine A. Nature Sustainability, Vol. 1, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-018-0187-9	journal	December 2018
Catalytic hydroprocessing of microalgae-derived biofuels: a review Yang, Changyan; Li, Rui; Cui, Chang Green Chemistry, Vol. 18, Issue 13 https://doi.org/10.1039/c6gc01239f	journal	January 2016
Production of bio-fuels and chemicals by microwave-assisted, catalytic, hydrothermal liquefaction (MAC-HTL) of a mixture of pine and spruce biomass Remón, Javier; Randall, James; Budarin, Vitaliy L. Green Chemistry, Vol. 21, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1039/c8gc03244k	journal	January 2019
Co-production of fully renewable medium chain α-olefins and bio-oil via hydrothermal liquefaction of biomass containing polyhydroxyalkanoic acid Dong, Tao; Xiong, Wei; Yu, Jianping RSC Advances, Vol. 8, Issue 60 https://doi.org/10.1039/c8ra07359g	journal	January 2018
Seasonal treatment and economic evaluation of an algal wastewater system for energy and nutrient recovery Li, Yalin; Slouka, Sydney A.; Henkanatte-Gedera, Shanka M. Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology, Vol. 5, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1039/c9ew00242a	journal	January 2019
The role of polysaccharides and proteins in bio-oil production during the hydrothermal liquefaction of algae species Yang, Wenchao; Wang, Zhaowei; Han, Jianbo RSC Advances, Vol. 9, Issue 71 https://doi.org/10.1039/c9ra07150d	journal	January 2019
Ecological Engineering Helps Maximize Function in Algal Oil Production Jackrel, Sara L.; Narwani, Anita; Bentlage, Bastian Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Vol. 84, Issue 15 https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.00953-18	journal	May 2018
Identification of significant proxy variable for the physiological status affecting salt stress-induced lipid accumulation in Chlorella sorokiniana HS1 Oh, Seung Hwan; Chang, Yong Keun; Lee, Jay Hyung Biotechnology for Biofuels, Vol. 12, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13068-019-1582-9	journal	October 2019
Prognostic Assessment of the Viability of Hydrothermal Liquefaction as a Post-Resource Recovery Step after Enhanced Biomethane Generation Using Co-Digestion Technologies Okoro, Oseweuba; Sun, Zhifa; Birch, John Applied Sciences, Vol. 8, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.3390/app8112290	journal	November 2018
Bio-Crude Production through Aqueous Phase Recycling of Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Sewage Sludge Shah, Ayaz A.; Toor, Saqib S.; Seehar, Tahir H. Energies, Vol. 13, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.3390/en13020493	journal	January 2020

Similar Records

Quantitative multiphase model for hydrothermal liquefaction of algal biomass

Journal Article · 2017 · Green Chemistry · OSTI ID:1350026

Li, Yalin; Leow, Shijie; Fedders, Anna C.; +3 more

Techno-Economic Uncertainty Quantification of Algal-derived Biocrude via Hydrothermal Liquefaction

Journal Article · 2019 · Algal Research · OSTI ID:1523393

Jiang, Yuan; Jones, Susanne B.; Zhu, Yunhua; +4 more

Evaluation of lipid extractability after flash hydrolysis of algae

Journal Article · 2018 · Fuel · OSTI ID:1431040

Teymouri, Ali; Adams, Kameron J.; Dong, Tao; +1 more

Related Subjects

09 BIOMASS FUELS
hydrothermal liquefaction

Title: Prediction of microalgae hydrothermal liquefaction products from feedstock biochemical composition

Citation Formats

References (54)

Cited By (10)

Similar Records

Related Subjects