BIO-FUEL PRODUCTION FROM MICROALGAE SYED ISA SYED ALWI CEO of Algaetech International Malaysia

Who We Are ? Algaetech Sdn Bhd (“Algaetech”) was incorporated in Malaysia year 2004 as an investment holding company with group activities in micro algae research, development, consultancy, production and marketing for renewable energy and high value products of anti-oxidants (or functional foods) Research and development of algae for bio fuel

Cultivation of Heamatococcus pluvialis for Astaxanthin production

Consultancy of micro-algae development for renewable energy and high value products from flue gas

ReNew RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD SUMMIT

Algaetech’s Expertise 1. Research & Development of Algae for functional food and bio-fuels 2. Consultancy in CO2 Sequestration, Carbon Credit Management, Emission Control management (Carbon Capture) and Integrated Renewable Energy Plant combines with algae cultivation and production 3. Algae Integrated Management System (AIMsys) 4. Primary production of high value products and anti oxidants such as Spirulina, astaxanthin 5. Sales & Marketing of algae nutritional product thunder brand named “Premia”.

Introduction  Most important renewable resources of energy nowadays is biofuel.  Two main sources of the production of biofuel;  the first type of raw materials in this industry are agriculture-based materials,  second type are organic wastes based.

 Biofuel:  solid,  liquid,  gaseous fuel consisting of, or derived from biomass.

 Biofuel often considered a transition renewable energy source to hydrogen fuel cell, nuclear, solar or wind     

Current ethanol capability: 6.5 billion gallons a year 77 new ethanol plants and 8 expansion projects underway 2.2 billion bushels were used to produce ethanol in 2006/2007 3.2 billion bushels were expected to be used in 2007/2008 Issues with land

 Require extensive government intervention (policy) Recently living organisms or their metabolic by-products, such as manure from cows. Fossil fuels: derived from long dead biological materials.

Why Biofuel? Biofuel production and consumption ensures that the natural Carbon cycle to be 100% achieved . Decrease in Carbon Dioxide rates in the atmosphere which in turns will have the greatest effect on the environment and a way to end global warming. For example, A crop of plants used to produce a barrel of biofuel will absorb exactly the same amount of Carbon Dioxide as emitted from burning the barrel produced.

How is Biofuel Made?  Originally came from the sun‐captured through photosynthesis by the plants and used as feedstock for biofuel production, and stored in the plants' cells.  Various plants and plant‐derived materials are used for biofuel manufacturing. – Sugar crops ; – Natural oils from plants like oil palm, soybean, or algae; – Wood and its by products; – Flaxseed, rapeseed (primarily in Europe ); – Waste from industry, agriculture, forestry, and households . – And of course algae

We Introduced – Algae Fuel • Algae fuel, also called algal fuel, algaeoleum or third-generation biofuel: – Biofuel which is derived from algae. – During photosynthesis, algae and other photosynthetic organisms capture carbon dioxide and sunlight and convert it into oxygen and biomass. – Up to 99% of the carbon dioxide in solution can be converted, which was shown by Weismann and Tillett (1992) in large-scale open-pond systems.

• Biofuel Processing: – The first route involves using oil which is extracted from plant sources like Jatropha, algae to produce bio SPK (Bio derived synthetic paraffinic Kerosene) by cracking. This Bio SPK can be further processed to produce Jet fuel. – The second route involves processing solid biomass using pyrolysis to produce pyrolysis oil which is then cracked to produce FT SPK (Fisher Tropsh Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene). Algae is processed via the first route.

Algae bio-diesel from Nanochloropsis Oculata

Biodiesel from Nannochloropsis

Inoculum preparation

Algae Powder

Cultivation of Nanochloropsis

Oil Extraction and refining

Harvesting algae biomass

Tranesterification of algae oil

Drying algae slurry

Separation of biodiesel and glycerol

Blending Algae Flakes into powder

Biodiesel washing

Pure Biodiesel

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Cultivation of Nannochloropsis • The cell division of Nannochloropsis usually occurs in dark

condition and the best growth temperature range is between 20 °C and 25 °C • Best salinity condition is 25-30ppt and the highest amount of lipid found at 35ppt • The pH of culture medium has to be within the range of 7.5 to 8.0. • The media which is utilized for the growth of Nannochloropsis is modified f/2 medium

Resource Requirements • Water  Seawater

• Cultivation system Photo bioreactor Open raceway

• Nutrients  F2 media

• Light source  Artificial Lighting  Sunlight

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Air supply/mixing  Aeration pump Paddle wheel

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Inoculums Preparation

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Cultivation of Microalgae

Open Raceway Pond

Close Photo Bio-reactor

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Harvesting & Drying • Separating algae from the growth medium in order to

concentrate and is followed by solar drying for long term storage • Harvesting is done by : – Physical methods

• Filtration • Centrifugation – Chemical methods • Flocculation 14

Drying

Sunlight is used to remove the remaining moisture content

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Extraction of Algal Oil Algae oil can be extracted primarily by : • Mechanical  Expression/Expeller press  Ultrasonic-assisted extraction •   

Chemical Hexane Solvent Method Soxhlet extraction Supercritical fluid Extraction

Soxhlet Oil Extraction 3000 ml of normal hexane was poured into flask and 300 grams of dried, powdered biomass added to the thimble and the mantle heater adjusted to 70˚ c. The Soxhlet turned on for 24 hours. Miscella - It is a technical term that means a mixture of the extracted oil and the extracting solvent.

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Conversion of Algae Oil into Biodiesel • Algal oil is highly viscous, with viscosities ranging 10–20 times

those of no. 2 Diesel fuel • Reduction in viscosity is important to make high-viscous oil a suitable alternative fuel for diesel engines

•     

There are a number of ways to reduce vegetable oil's viscosity: Transestrification, Pyrolysis Micro Emulsion Blending Thermal depolymerization

Separation the glycerin from Biodiesel

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Properties of Algaetech’s Algae Biodiesel

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Biofuel from Algae – Promise & Challenges  Microalgae cultivation on a large scale could considerably diminish land use, mainly, arable land, bio fuels production could come from arid and semi-arid land, on which microalgae could be cultivated.  This alternative has not been considered in IEA studies. It represents the opportunity to increase bio fuels share in the road-transport sector without competition with land for food production. Furthermore, microalgae present a much higher productivity than terrestrial crops and forest. Productivity of approximately 70 ton/ha/year for algae is estimated in comparison to 15 ton/ha/year for terrestrial plants.  An interesting review related to the microalgae potential to produce biodiesel, in which he emphasized that microalgae appear to be the only source of renewable biodiesel able to meet the global demand for transport fuels.

Benefits of Using Algae Bio-Fuel • • • •

• •

Biofuels could reduced greenhouse-gas emissions by 60 to 80 percent. The yields of oil and fuels from algae are much higher (10-100 times) than competing energy crops Algae can grow practically anywhere (desert and marine environments), thus ensuring that there is no competition with food crops. Algae are excellent bioremediation agents - they have the potential to absorb massive amounts of CO2 and can play an important role in sewage and wastewater treatment. Algae are already being used in a wide variety of industries and applications, and many newer applications are being discovered. Such a wide range of end-uses enable companies to produce both fuels and nonfuel products from the same algae feedstock

Algae Bio fuel production 180,000

160,000

140,000

Algae produce more than 150 times fuel compared to soybean

Oil yield (kg/hectre)

120,000

100,000

80,000

60,000

40,000

20,000

0

Soybean

Rapeseed

Babassu

Palm oil

Algae

Our Story – Algae Bio fuel 1. Successfully culture and acclimatized Nanoclhoropsis Oculata in Malaysia, one of Micro Algae can produce Bio Fuel; 2. Completely develop Algae Integrated Management System for Cultivation of microalgae – combination of high technology system and biological factors; 3. Successfully produced Algae Biodiesel / biofuel under MOSTI grant in 2010 and in the preparation stage for commercialization. 4. Running diesel engine using our Algae Bio diesel.

Our Algae Fuel, Ready To Go!! We are looking for partner to start the commercial scale and production of Algae biofuel/biodiesel in MALAYSIA.

Algaetech’s Success Story 1. Successfully produced Algae Biodiesel under MOSTI grant in 2010. 2. Successfully produced AIMSYS (Algae Integrated Management System) in 2009 – Commercial project at Batam, Indonesia. 3. Solution provider for Carbon Capturing, STP and Waste Water Treatment System for industrial sectors using AIMSYS. 4. Successfully produced high nutrient food supplement product from algae under trade name Premia Spirullina EX. In the process of expanding product application to Premia Spirullina Coffee, tea, cereal etc. 5. Also in the final stage of promoting astaxanthin (antioxidant) product to the market. Granted grant (RM3, 379, 300.00) from MTDC. 6. Commercial Micro-Algae Cultivation and Production of Astaxanthin and Spirulina. We have our own farm in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Our Strategic Partner • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

MOSTI MTDC SIRIM Berhad BioTechCorp Supreme Biotech Biotech International MIMOS USM UKM UMS Rhodes University, South Africa Seambiotics Ingrepro Feyecon

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THANK YOU 3rd Floor, Block Pacific, Wisma Rampai, Jalan 34/26,53300 Setapak Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA T: +603-41424834 F: +603-41422837