Hydrolysis of Chlorella biomass for fermentable sugars in the presence of HCl and MgCl2

Glucose Conversion for Biobutanol Production from Fresh Chlorella sorokiniana via Direct Enzymatic Hydrolysis

Microalgae, which accumulate considerable carbohydrates, are a potential source of glucose for biofuel fermentation. In this study, we investigated the enzymatic hydrolysis efficiency of wet microalgal biomass compared with freeze-dried and oven-dried biomasses, both with and without an acidic pretreatment. With the dilute sulfuric acid pretreatment followed by amy (α-amylase and amyloglucosidase) and cellulase hydrolysis, approximately 95.4% of the glucose was recovered; however, 88.5% was released by the pretreatment with 2% (w/v) sulfuric acid, which indicates the potential of the acids for direct saccharification process. There were no considerable differences in the glucose yields among the three kinds of materials. In the direct amy hydrolysis without any pretreatment, a 78.7% glucose yield was obtained, and the addition of cellulase had no significant effect on the hydrolysis to glucose. Compared with the oven-dried biomass, the wet biomass produced a substantially higher glucose yield, which is possibly because the cross-linked cells of the oven-dried biomass prevented the accessibility of the enzymes. According to the results, the fresh microalgal biomass without cell disruption can be directly used for enzymatic hydrolysis to produce glucose. The enzymatic hydrolysate of the wet microalgal biomass was successfully used for acetone–butanol–ethanol (ABE) fermentation, which produced 7.2 g/L of ABE, indicating the application potential of wet microalgae in the bioalcohol fuel fermentation process.

Production and Analysis of Beer Supplemented with Chlorella vulgaris Powder

The microalgae Chlorella vulgaris is a cheap source of nutrients and bioactive compounds, and thus is used in many interventional studies. This study evaluated the potential effects of C. vulgaris powder on fermentation parameters; sensory, phytochemical, and antioxidant activity; and the abundance of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of treated versus control beers. A German Pilsner-style lager beer (GPB) was brewed and supplemented with C. vulgaris at various levels (3.3, 5, and 10 g/L) after primary fermentation. The apparent °Brix and pH was used to monitor the progress of fermentation. The 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) was used to measure the antioxidant activity of beers. Addition of C. vulgaris increased the concentration of total polyphenols, total flavonoids, and antioxidant activity of treated beers (CGB) compared to the control (GPB). Treatment had no effects (p > 0.05) on higher alcohols such as 3-methyl-1-butanol, 2-hexanol, and phenylethyl alcohol. An increase in the concentration of C. vulgaris had no significant effects on sensory perception of enriched beers. The results showed that C. vulgaris could be used as a potential ingredient for designing functional beer with improved health benefits.

Current Progress, Challenges and Perspectives in the Microalgal-Bacterial Aerobic Granular Sludge Process: A Review

Traditional wastewater treatment technologies have become increasingly inefficient to meet the needs of low-consumption and sustainable wastewater treatment. Researchers are committed to seeking new wastewater treatment technologies, to reduce the pressure on the environment caused by resource shortages. Recently, a microalgal-bacterial granular sludge (MBGS) technology has attracted widespread attention due to its high efficiency wastewater treatment capacity, low energy consumption, low CO₂ emissions, potentially high added values, and resource recovery capabilities. This review focused primarily on the following aspects of microalgal-bacterial granular sludge technology: (1) MBGS culture and maintenance operating parameters, (2) MBGS application in different wastewaters, (3) MBGS additional products: biofuels and bioproducts, (4) MBGS energy saving and consumption reduction: greenhouse gas emission reduction, and (5) challenges and prospects. The information in this review will help us better understand the current progress and future direction of the MBGS technology development. It is expected that this review will provide a sound theoretical basis for the practical applications of a MBGS technology in environmentally sustainable wastewater treatment, resource recovery, and system optimization.

Microalgal Biomass as Feedstock for Bacterial Production of PHA: Advances and Future Prospects

The search for biodegradable plastics has become the focus in combating the global plastic pollution crisis. Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are renewable substitutes to petroleum-based plastics with the ability to completely mineralize in soil, compost, and marine environments. The preferred choice of PHA synthesis is from bacteria or archaea. However, microbial production of PHAs faces a major drawback due to high production costs attributed to the high price of organic substrates as compared to synthetic plastics. As such, microalgal biomass presents a low-cost solution as feedstock for PHA synthesis. Photoautotrophic microalgae are ubiquitous in our ecosystem and thrive from utilizing easily accessible light, carbon dioxide and inorganic nutrients. Biomass production from microalgae offers advantages that include high yields, effective carbon dioxide capture, efficient treatment of effluents and the usage of infertile land. Nevertheless, the success of large-scale PHA synthesis using microalgal biomass faces constraints that encompass the entire flow of the microalgal biomass production, i.e., from molecular aspects of the microalgae to cultivation conditions to harvesting and drying microalgal biomass along with the conversion of the biomass into PHA. This review discusses approaches such as optimization of growth conditions, improvement of the microalgal biomass manufacturing technologies as well as the genetic engineering of both microalgae and PHA-producing bacteria with the purpose of refining PHA production from microalgal biomass.

Microalgal Biorefinery Concepts’ Developments for Biofuel and Bioproducts: Current Perspective and Bottlenecks

Microalgae have received much interest as a biofuel feedstock. However, the economic feasibility of biofuel production from microalgae does not satisfy capital investors. Apart from the biofuels, it is necessary to produce high-value co-products from microalgae fraction to satisfy the economic aspects of microalgae biorefinery. In addition, microalgae-based wastewater treatment is considered as an alternative for the conventional wastewater treatment in terms of energy consumption, which is suitable for microalgae biorefinery approaches. The energy consumption of a microalgae wastewater treatment system (0.2 kW/h/m³) was reduced 10 times when compared to the conventional wastewater treatment system (to 2 kW/h/m³). Microalgae are rich in various biomolecules such as carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, pigments, vitamins, and antioxidants; all these valuable products can be utilized by nutritional, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries. There are several bottlenecks associated with microalgae biorefinery. Hence, it is essential to promote the sustainability of microalgal biorefinery with innovative ideas to produce biofuel with high-value products. This review attempted to bring out the trends and promising solutions to realize microalgal production of multiple products at an industrial scale. New perspectives and current challenges are discussed for the development of algal biorefinery concepts.

Microalgae-based carbohydrates: A green innovative source of bioenergy

Microalgae contribute significantly to the global carbon cycle through photosynthesis. Given their ability to efficiently convert solar energy and atmospheric carbon dioxide into chemical compounds, such as carbohydrates, and generate oxygen during the process, microalgae represent an excellent and feasible carbohydrate bioresource. Microalgae-based biofuels are technically viable and, delineate a green and innovative field of opportunity for bioenergy exploitation. Microalgal polysaccharides are one of the most versatile groups for biotechnological applications and its content can be increased by manipulating cultivation conditions. Microalgal carbohydrates can be used to produce a variety of biofuels, including bioethanol, biobutanol, biomethane, and biohydrogen. This review provides an overview of microalgal carbohydrates, focusing on their use as feedstock for biofuel production, highlighting the carbohydrate metabolism and approaches for their enhancement. Moreover, biofuels produced from microalgal carbohydrate are showed, in addition to a new bibliometric study of current literature on microalgal carbohydrates and their use.

Production of biodiesel and succinic acid from the biomass of the microalga Micractinium sp. IC-44

In this study, a combined approach to produce fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) and succinic acid from the biomass of the microalga Micractinium sp. IC-44 using ionic liquids (ILs) was presented. After 22 days of cultivation, the biomass productivity was 0.034 ± 0.001 g L^-1day^-1, and the lipid content was 11.5 ± 0.5%. Direct biomass transesterification using H₂SO₄ in the presence of IL [BMIM][HSO₄] resulted in a FAME yield of 42.0 ± 4.3%, which exceeded the yields obtained after transesterification of extracted lipids (20.5 ± 3.5% using ILs and 27.1 ± 2.4% using methanol/chloroform) and direct biomass transesterification without using ILs (31.6 ± 1.7%). The residual biomass obtained after direct transesterification using ILs was subjected to acid hydrolysis (sugar yield was 81.1 ± 2.4%). The purified hydrolysate was fermented using Actinobacillus succinogenes 130Z to obtain a succinic acid yield of 0.67 g g^-1 of fermentable sugars. Therefore, this study demonstrated the successful conversion of the Micractinium sp. IC-44 biomass into biodiesel and succinic acid.

Microalgae Cultivation Technologies as an Opportunity for Bioenergetic System Development—Advantages and Limitations

Microalgal biomass is currently considered as a sustainable and renewable feedstock for biofuel production (biohydrogen, biomethane, biodiesel) characterized by lower emissions of hazardous air pollutants than fossil fuels. Photobioreactors for microalgae growth can be exploited using many industrial and domestic wastes. It allows locating the commercial microalgal systems in areas that cannot be employed for agricultural purposes, i.e., near heating or wastewater treatment plants and other industrial facilities producing carbon dioxide and organic and nutrient compounds. Despite their high potential, the large-scale algal biomass production technologies are not popular because the systems for biomass production, separation, drainage, and conversion into energy carriers are difficult to explicitly assess and balance, considering the ecological and economical concerns. Most of the studies presented in the literature have been carried out on a small, laboratory scale. This significantly limits the possibility of obtaining reliable data for a comprehensive assessment of the efficiency of such solutions. Therefore, there is a need to verify the results in pilot-scale and the full technical-scale studies. This study summarizes the strengths and weaknesses of microalgal biomass production technologies for bioenergetic applications.

Bioplastic Production from Microalgae: A Review

Plastic waste production around the world is increasing, which leads to global plastic waste pollution. The need for an innovative solution to reduce this pollution is inevitable. Increased recycling of plastic waste alone is not a comprehensive solution. Furthermore, decreasing fossil-based plastic usage is an important aspect of sustainability. As an alternative to fossil-based plastics in the market, bio-based plastics are gaining in popularity. According to the studies conducted, products with similar performance characteristics can be obtained using biological feedstocks instead of fossil-based sources. In particular, bioplastic production from microalgae is a new opportunity to be explored and further improved. The aim of this study is to determine the current state of bioplastic production technologies from microalgae species and reveal possible optimization opportunities in the process and application areas. Therefore, the species used as resources for bioplastic production, the microalgae cultivation methods and bioplastic material production methods from microalgae were summarized.

Bioethanol from hydrolyzed Spirulina (Arthrospira platensis) biomass using ethanologenic bacteria

Photosynthetic microorganisms are considered excellent feedstock for biofuel production in developing biomass production technologies. A study was conducted to evaluate ethanol production with the sequential enzymatic saccharification and fermentation of Arthrospira platensis (Spirulina) biomass with the metabolically engineered Escherichia coli strain MS04. A. platensis was cultivated semicontinuously in an open raceway pond, and the carbohydrate content was determined to be as high as 40%. The enzymatic saccharification was designed to release the maximum amount of glucose. After 40 h of enzymatic saccharification, 27 g L−1 of monosaccharides was obtained. These slurries were fermented with ethanologenic bacteria, achieving 12.7 g L−1 ethanol after 9 h of fermentation, which corresponds to 92% conversion yield of the glucose content in the hydrolysate, 0.13 g of ethanol per 1 g of Spirulina biomass and a volumetric productivity of 1.4 g of ethanol L−1 h−1. Therefore, we conclude that it is possible, in a short time, to obtain a high ethanol yield corresponding to 160 L per ton of dry biomass with a high productivity.

Algae as potential feedstock for the production of biofuels and value-added products: Opportunities and challenges

The current review explores the potential application of algal biomass for the production of biofuels and bio-based products. The variety of processes and pathways through which bio-valorization of algal biomass can be performed are described in this review. Various lipid extraction techniques from algal biomass along with transesterification reactions for biodiesel production are briefly discussed. Processes such as the pretreatment and saccharification of algal biomass, fermentation, gasification, pyrolysis, hydrothermal liquefaction, and anaerobic digestion for the production of biohydrogen, bio-oils, biomethane, biochar (BC), and various bio-based products are reviewed in detail. The biorefinery model and its collaborative approach with various processes are highlighted for the production of eco-friendly, sustainable, and cost-effective biofuels and value-added products. The authors also discuss opportunities and challenges related to bio-valorization of algal biomass and use their own perspective regarding the processes involved in production and the feasibility to make algal research a reality for the production of biofuels and bio-based products in a sustainable manner.

Structural insights reveal the effective Spirulina platensis cell wall dissociation methods for multi-output recovery

In this work, Spirulina platensis cells harvested in the exponential and equilibrium phases with intact and broken cell walls were treated through a set of alkaline or acidic conditions including alkalis and acids, with solutions of pH 0.0-14.0. The effective Spirulina platensis cell wall dissociation methods for multi-output recovery were obtained. SEM and FTIR were applied to characterize the alkaline and acid treatment details, and Spirulina platensis cell wall dissociation mechanisms, via attacks by OH^- or H⁺, were then proposed. Overall, this study highlights the synthesized multi-output algal product in an integrated strategy with ultracellular structural insight and is valuable for understanding the specific roles of attack ions.

Bioethanol production from microalgae polysaccharides

The worldwide growing demand for energy permanently increases the pressure on industrial and scientific community to introduce new alternative biofuels on the global energy market. Besides the leading role of biodiesel and biogas, bioethanol receives more and more attention as first- and second-generation biofuel in the sustainable energy industry. Lately, microalgae (green algae and cyanobacteria) biomass has also remarkable potential as a feedstock for the third-generation biofuel production due to their high lipid and carbohydrate content. The third-generation bioethanol production technology can be divided into three major processing ways: (i) fermentation of pre-treated microalgae biomass, (ii) dark fermentation of reserved carbohydrates and (iii) direct "photo-fermentation" from carbon dioxide to bioethanol using light energy. All three technologies provide possible solutions, but from a practical point of view, traditional fermentation technology from microalgae biomass receives currently the most attention. This study mainly focusses on the latest advances in traditional fermentation processes including the steps of enhanced carbohydrate accumulation, biomass pre-treatment, starch and glycogen downstream processing and various fermentation approaches.

Effects of acids pre-treatment on the microbial fermentation process for bioethanol production from microalgae

BACKGROUND

Microalgae are one of the promising feedstock that consists of high carbohydrate content which can be converted into bioethanol. Pre-treatment is one of the critical steps required to release fermentable sugars to be used in the microbial fermentation process. In this study, the reducing sugar concentration of Chlorella species was investigated by pre-treating the biomass with dilute sulfuric acid and acetic acid at different concentrations 1%, 3%, 5%, 7%, and 9% (v/v).

RESULTS

3,5-Dinitrosalicylic acid (DNS) method, FTIR, and GC-FID were employed to evaluate the reducing sugar concentration, functional groups of alcohol bonds and concentration of bioethanol, respectively. The two-way ANOVA results (p < 0.05) indicated that there was a significant difference in the concentration and type of acids towards bioethanol production. The highest bioethanol yield obtained was 0.28 g ethanol/g microalgae which was found in microalgae sample pre-treated with 5% (v/v) sulfuric acid while 0.23 g ethanol/g microalgal biomass was presented in microalgae sample pre-treated with 5% (v/v) acetic acid.

CONCLUSION

The application of acid pre-treatment on microalgae for bioethanol production will contribute to higher effectiveness and lower energy consumption compared to other pre-treatment methods. The findings from this study are essential for the commercial production of bioethanol from microalgae.

Direct and highly productive conversion of cyanobacteria Arthrospira platensis to ethanol with CaCl2 addition

BACKGROUND

The cyanobacterium Arthrospira platensis shows promise as a carbohydrate feedstock for biofuel production. The glycogen accumulated in A. platensis can be extracted by lysozyme-degrading the peptidoglycan layer of the bacterial cell walls. The extracted glycogen can be converted to ethanol through hydrolysis by amylolytic enzymes and fermentation by the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Thus, in the presence of lysozyme, a recombinant yeast expressing α-amylase and glucoamylase can convert A. platensis directly to ethanol, which would simplify the procedure for ethanol production. However, the ethanol titer and productivity in this process are lower than in ethanol production from cyanobacteria and green algae in previous reports.

RESULTS

To increase the ethanol titer, a high concentration of A. platensis biomass was employed as the carbon source for the ethanol production using a recombinant amylase-expressing yeast. The addition of lysozyme to the fermentation medium increased the ethanol titer, but not the ethanol productivity. The addition of CaCl₂ increased both the ethanol titer and productivity by causing the delamination of polysaccharide layer on the cell surface of A. platensis. In the presence of lysozyme and CaCl₂, ethanol titer, yield, and productivity improved to 48 g L^-1, 93% of theoretical yield, and 1.0 g L^-1 h^-1 from A. platensis, corresponding to 90 g L^-1 of glycogen.

CONCLUSIONS

We developed an ethanol conversion process using a recombinant amylase-expressing yeast from A. platensis with a high titer, yield, and productivity by adding both lysozyme and CaCl₂. The direct and highly productive conversion process from A. platensis via yeast fermentation could be applied to multiple industrial bulk chemicals.

Microalgae pretreatment with liquid hot water to enhance enzymatic hydrolysis efficiency

Nowadays, microalgae are being considered as promising raw material for bioethanol production. In this work, three process variables during liquid hot water (LHW) pretreatment prior to enzymatic hydrolysis by response surface methodology on Scenedesmus sp. WZKMT were investigated to enhance glucose recovery. Results indicated that the order of significance for three parameters was temperature>solid-to-liquid ratio>time. The optimal condition was 1:13 (w/v), 147°C and 40min. The concentration and recovery of glucose under this condition were 14.223g·L(-1) and 89.32%, respectively, which were up to 5-fold higher than the samples without LHW pretreatment. In addition, the surface morphologies of microalgae cells before and after LHW pretreatment were also verified using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). LHW pretreatment can greatly enhance the enzymatic efficiency, and can be regarded as an ideal pretreatment method for glucose recovery from microalgae.

Enhancement of hydrolysis of Chlorella vulgaris by hydrochloric acid

Chlorella vulgaris is considered as one of the potential sources of biomass for bio-based products because it consists of large amounts of carbohydrates. In this study, hydrothermal acid hydrolysis with five different acids (hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, peracetic acid, phosphoric acid, and sulfuric acid) was carried out to produce fermentable sugars (glucose, galactose). The hydrothermal acid hydrolysis by hydrochloric acid showed the highest sugar production. C. vulgaris was hydrolyzed with various concentrations of hydrochloric acid [0.5-10 % (w/w)] and microalgal biomass [20-140 g/L (w/v)] at 121 °C for 20 min. Among the concentrations examined, 2 % hydrochloric acid with 100 g/L biomass yielded the highest conversion of carbohydrates (92.5 %) into reducing sugars. The hydrolysate thus produced from C. vulgaris was fermented using the yeast Brettanomyces custersii H1-603 and obtained bioethanol yield of 0.37 g/g of algal sugars.

Biology and Industrial Applications of Chlorella: Advances and Prospects

Chlorella represents a group of eukaryotic green microalgae that has been receiving increasing scientific and commercial interest. It possesses high photosynthetic ability and is capable of growing robustly under mixotrophic and heterotrophic conditions as well. Chlorella has long been considered as a source of protein and is now industrially produced for human food and animal feed. Chlorella is also rich in oil, an ideal feedstock for biofuels. The exploration of biofuel production by Chlorella is underway. Chlorella has the ability to fix carbon dioxide efficiently and to remove nutrients of nitrogen and phosphorous, making it a good candidate for greenhouse gas biomitigation and wastewater bioremediation. In addition, Chlorella shows potential as an alternative expression host for recombinant protein production, though challenges remain to be addressed. Currently, omics analyses of certain Chlorella strains are being performed, which will help to unravel the biological implications of Chlorella and facilitate the future exploration of industrial applications.

Enhancing methane production of Chlorella vulgaris via thermochemical pretreatments

To enhance the anaerobic digestion of Chlorella vulgaris, thermochemical pretreatments were conducted. All pretreatments markedly improved solubilisation of carbohydrates. Thermal treatments and thermal treatments combined with alkali resulted in 5-fold increase of soluble carbohydrates while thermal treatment with acid addition enhanced by 7-fold. On the other hand, proteins were only solubilized with thermo-alkaline conditions applied. Likewise, all the pretreatments tested improved methane production. Highest anaerobic digestion was accomplished by thermal treatment at 120°C for 40 min without any chemical addition. As a matter of fact, hydrolysis constant rate was doubled under this condition. According to the energetic analysis, energy input was higher than the extra energy gain at the solid concentration employed. Nevertheless, higher biomass organic load pretreatment may be an option to achieve positive energetic balances.

Bioethanol production from Yarrowia lipolytica Po1g biomass

Bioethanol production from the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica biomass was studied. The effects of temperature (90-150°C) and H2SO4 concentration (2-15%w/w) on the saccharification of biomass at a hydrolysis time of 1h were investigated. A maximum glucose concentration of 35.89 g/L can be produced from defatted biomass using 6% H2SO4 at 120°C. Subcritical water (SCW) pretreatment has negligible effect on maximizing glucose yield. Only 14.53 g/L glucose can be produced using 6% H2SO4 at 120°C if un-defatted biomass was used. The highest ethanol concentration achieved was 13.39 g/L with a corresponding ethanol yield of 0.084 g/g dry biomass (0.38 g ethanol/g glucose).

Continuous mode of carbon dioxide sequestration by C. sorokiniana and subsequent use of its biomass for hydrogen production by E. cloacae IIT-BT 08

The present study investigated to find out the suitability of the CO2 sequestered algal biomass of Chlorella sorokiniana as substrate for the hydrogen production by Enterobacter cloacae IIT-BT 08. The maximum biomass productivity in continuous mode of operation in autotrophic condition was enhanced from 0.05 g L(-1) h(-1) in air to 0.11 g L(-1) h(-1) in 5% air-CO2 (v/v) gas mixture at an optimum dilution rate of 0.05 h(-1). Decrease in steady state biomass and productivity was less sensitive at higher dilution and found fitting with the model proposed by Eppley and Dyer (1965). Pretreated algal biomass of 10 g L(-1) with 2% (v/v) HCl-heat was found most suitable for hydrogen production yielding 9±2 mol H2 (kg COD reduced)(-1) and was found fitting with modified Gompertz equation. Further, hydrogen energy recovery in dark fermentation was significantly enhanced compared to earlier report of hydrogen production by biophotolysis of algae.

Pretreatment for simultaneous production of total lipids and fermentable sugars from marine alga, Chlorella sp

The goal of this study was to determine the optimal pretreatment process for the extraction of lipids and reducing sugars to facilitate the simultaneous production of biodiesel and bioethanol from the marine microalga Chorella sp. With a single pretreatment process, the optimal ultrasonication pretreatment process was 10 min at 47 KHz, and extraction yields of 6.5 and 7.1 (percentage, w/w) of the lipids and reducing sugars, respectively, were obtained. The optimal microwave pretreatment process was 10 min at 2,450 MHz, and extraction yields of 6.6 and 7.0 (percentage, w/w) of the lipids and reducing sugars, respectively, were obtained. Lastly, the optimal high-pressure homogenization pretreatment process was two cycles at a pressure of 20,000 psi, and extraction yields of 12.5 and 12.8 (percentage, w/w) of the lipids and reducing sugars, respectively, were obtained. However, because the single pretreatment processes did not markedly improve the extraction yields compared to the results of previous studies, a combination of two pretreatment processes was applied. The yields of lipids and reducing sugars from the combined application of the high-pressure homogenization process and the microwave process were 24.4 and 24.9 % (w/w), respectively, which was up to three times greater than the yields obtained using the single pretreatment processes. Furthermore, the oleic acid content, which is a fatty acid suitable for biodiesel production, was 23.39 % of the fatty acids (w/w). The contents of glucose and xylose, which are among the fermentable sugars useful for bioethanol production, were 77.5 and 13.3 % (w/w) of the fermentable sugars, respectively, suggesting the possibility of simultaneously producing biodiesel and bioethanol. Based on the results of this study, the combined application of the high-pressure homogenization and microwave pretreatment processes is the optimal method to increase the extraction yields of lipids and reducing sugars that are essential for the simultaneous production of biodiesel and bioethanol.

Using poly([1-vinyl-3-hexylimidazolium] [bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide]) to adsorb bio-ethanol from a Chamaecyparis obtuse leaves fermentation broth

Poly([1-vinyl-3-hexylimidazolium] [bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide]) (poly([VHIM][Tf2N])) was assessed for its ability to adsorb bio-ethanol from Chamaecyparis obtuse leaves fermentation broths. Poly([VHIM][Tf2N]) was prepared by poly([VHIM][Br]) ion exchange with Li(Tf2N). Poly([VHIM][Br]) was obtained using a thermal-initiated polymerization method. The factors affecting the adsorption capacity of poly([VHIM][Tf2N]), such as the initial concentration of bio-ethanol in the fermentation broth, adsorption temperature and dosage of the adsorbent, as well as the adsorption kinetics and equilibrium of poly([VHIM][Tf2N]) were investigated. The Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin isotherms used to describe the adsorption of bio-ethanol on the adsorbent showed good correlation coefficients of 0.97, 0.96 and 0.98, respectively. A comparison of the separation factors for ethanol/water, ethanol/glucose and ethanol/xylose revealed poly([VHIM][Tf2N]) to have preferential selectivity for bio-ethanol. Compared to activated carbon, poly([VHIM][Tf2N]) exhibited higher adsorption capacity for bio-ethanol under the same adsorption conditions. The adsorbent could be used for 5 cycles with good efficiency, highlighting its reusability as an adsorbent.

Ionic liquids-based hydrolysis of Chlorella biomass for fermentable sugars

An ionic liquids-based chemical hydrolysis strategy was developed to obtain high-yielding soluble sugars from Chlorella biomass. Initial ionic liquids dissolution and subsequently HCl catalyzed hydrolysis could dissolve 75.34% of Chlorella biomass and release 88.02% of total sugars from Chlorella biomass. The amount of HCl loading was 7 wt.% relative to Chlorella biomass weight, which was much lower (only 14.6%) than that in HCl/MgCl(2)-catalyzed system with similar sugars release (Zhou et al., 2011). Ionic liquids in the hydrolysates were recycled and fermentable sugars were evaluated by converting to bioethanol after separated by ion-exclusion chromatography. This ionic liquids-based hydrolysis strategy showed the great potential to produce fermentable sugars from algal biomass.

Application of low-cost algal nitrogen source feeding in fuel ethanol production using high gravity sweet potato medium

Protein-rich bloom algae biomass was employed as nitrogen source in fuel ethanol fermentation using high gravity sweet potato medium containing 210.0 g l(-1) glucose. In batch mode, the fermentation could not accomplish even in 120 h without any feeding of nitrogen source. While, the feeding of acid-hydrolyzed bloom algae powder (AHBAP) notably promoted fermentation process but untreated bloom algae powder (UBAP) was less effective than AHBAP. The fermentation times were reduced to 96, 72, and 72 h if 5.0, 10.0, and 20.0 g l(-1) AHBAP were added into medium, respectively, and the ethanol yields and productivities increased with increasing amount of feeding AHBAP. The continuous fermentations were performed in a three-stage reactor system. Final concentrations of ethanol up to 103.2 and 104.3 g l(-1) with 4.4 and 5.3 g l(-1) residual glucose were obtained using the previously mentioned medium feeding with 20.0 and 30.0 g l(-1) AHBAP, at dilution rate of 0.02 h(-1). Notably, only 78.5 g l(-1) ethanol and 41.6 g l(-1) residual glucose were obtained in the comparative test without any nitrogen source feeding. Amino acids analysis showed that approximately 67% of the protein in the algal biomass was hydrolyzed and released into the medium, serving as the available nitrogen nutrition for yeast growth and metabolism. Both batch and continuous fermentations showed similar fermentation parameters when 20.0 and 30.0 g l(-1) AHBAP were fed, indicating that the level of available nitrogen in the medium should be limited, and an algal nitrogen source feeding amount higher than 20.0 g l(-1) did not further improve the fermentation performance.