Algae Based Beneficial Re-use of Industrial

Carbon Emissions: Demonstration Update

and Mass Balance
Michael Hayes Wilson
Senior Research Engineer
University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy
Research 1
 Agenda
• CAER Overview
• Algae Project Overview
• Background
• Dewatering
• Utilization
• East Bend Demonstration
Project
• Process Data
• Preliminary Mass Balance
Data
• Other Stuff
• Next Steps
Introduction:
University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy
Research
 Introduction:
University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy
Research

RESEARCH AREAS

•  Biofuels and Environmental Catalysis

•  Catalytic Converters, Catalytic Upgrading for Fuels, Algae based CO2
utilization.
•  Carbon Materials
•  Carbon Fibers, Nanotubes
•  Clean Fuels and Chemicals
•  Fischer-Tropes, Indirect Coal Liquefaction
•  Electrochemical Power Sources
•  Low cost capacitors, batteries, and hybrids
•  Environmental and Coal Technologies
•  Post Combustion Byproduct Beneficiation, Advanced Concretes
•  Environmental Remediation and Restoration Group
•  Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant
•  Power Generation and Utility Fuels
•  Chemical Carbon Capture, Chemical Looping, Demonstration Projects
 Project Timeline

•  2008 – UK Approached by Kentucky State Department of Energy

Development and Independence to investigate the techno-
economic feasibility of algae based CO2 mitigation
•  2011-2012:Initial Demonstration Work started at EKPC’s Dale
Station
•  2012-Present: Demonstration Project at Duke Energy’s East
Bend Station
•  2011-Present: Part of US-China Clean Energy Research Center
(CERC)
Research FocusNETL Biological CO2 Utilization Award
•  August, 2015:
Power plant integration, PBR design, low cost/low energy
dewatering, utilization studies, techno economic modeling

Utilization Studies
Anaerobic digestion, lipid extraction, catalytic upgrading, bio
polymers, HTL, Pyrolysis, Aquaculture, Aquaponics, etc.
 From Flue Gas to Fungible
Fuels
CO2 as flue gas Cultivation in low cost PBR Flocculation/
Sedimentation

Fuel Like Hydrocarbons Catalytic Upgrading of Lipids Gravity Filtration

M.H. Wilson, J. Groppo, E. Santillan-Jimenez, M. Crocker et al., Appl. Petrochem. Res. 4 (2014) 41
 Current Research Focus
Continuous
Dewatering

Flow Chart of Process With Research Focus Areas Highlighted in Blue

Solar modeling for optimum photobioreactor spacing

Low-Cost/Low-Energy Dewatering Process Leverages Existing

Technologies to Deliver Biomass to a Variety of Utilization 7
Pathways
Field Demonstration of Algae
Technology
• Pilot algae facility operated at Duke
Energy’s East Bend Station in
2012/13, incorporating 1st generation
U. KY photobioreactor (see top left)

• East Bend is a scrubbed unit with

ESP, FGD, and SCR emission control

• Areal productivity of routinely ≥ 30 g/

m2/day (summer) and ≥ 10 g/m2/day
(winter) demonstrated at significant
scale (18,000 L)

• New “cyclic flow” photobioreactor

deployed in 2014 (top right, bottom) –
promises lower cost, higher
productivity, and more robust
operation
Field Demonstration of Algae
Technology
Harvesting/Dewatering Flowsheet

0.4 g/ l
0.04%solids <0.01 g/ l
Recycle to
<0.001 %solids Feed Tank

UV STERILIZER
PRIMARY
THICKENER
1500 gallons

HORIZONTAL FILTER
/
SOLAR DRYER
2' x 8'

175 g/ l
7.5%to 25%
solids

20 to 30 g/ l
2%to 3%solids

10
Prototype Gravity Filter/Solar Dryer
•  Multifilament nylon fiber weave allows for
cake formation
•  Allows separation and recycling of all free
water containing unused nutrients
•  Short vacuum pulse can improve
throughput
•  Can produce 10-25% solids for utilization
•  Solar oven can reach 60 degrees C in
summer
•  Energy efficient based off of existing tech

During

11
Algal Biomass Utilization

Value Market Size

FDA
Regulated
Applications

Nutraceuticals
Cosmetics
Food Products

Animal Feed Supplements

Organic Fertilizer ($800-$1200/ton)
Bioplastics ($900-$1200 / ton)

Liquid Fuels ($700/ton)

Animal Feed / Aquaculture ($400-700/ton)
Energy (Combustion)

12
 Algal Biomass Utilization Pathways

Algae
Cultivation
Harvest & Dewatering
0.1 - 2 g/l
Biogas
Renewable Methane
Flocculation / Anaerobic
Sedimentation Digestion Digester Sludge
Algae Nutrient Recycling

3-5% Solids Algal Biomass Utilization Pathways

High Value Lipids

Biodiesel
Gravity Wet Lipid
UPGRADING
Filtration Extraction Lipids
Renewable Diesel

12 - 18% Solids Lipids

Aquaculture Feed
Dry Lipid
Extraction Residual Biomass
Animal Feed
Solar
Drier Bio-crude Oil
Soil Amendment
Fast
20 - 100% Solids Pyrolysis Char
Algae Nutrient Recycling
Current UK Concept for CO2 Capture/
Bioproduct Production

14
 System Productivity

East Bend TBO May 5 - Aug 30

60 20

55
18

50
16
45
14

Total PAR, µmol/m2/day x E9

Aerial Productivity, g/m2/day

40

12
35

30 10

25
8

20
6
15
←
→ ←→
Outage
4
Outage
10

2
5

0 0

Flue Gas Bottled CO2 PAR

Mass Balance Set Up

Temperature, dissolved
O2, and pH measured in
reactor

MRU Flue Gas

analyzers in inlet and
outlet streams measure
T, CO2, O2, NOx, SOx,
CO, and CH4.

Data measured and

stored automatically.
 Typical Data Set

Online Data July 2015

40 3000

35
2500

30

PAR (µmol/m^2 s)
2000
25
T (⁰C) pH, DO (mg/l)

20 1500

15
1000

10

500
5

0 0
7/13/2015 0:00 7/15/2015 0:00 7/17/2015 0:00 7/19/2015 0:00 7/21/2015 0:00

PAR T ambient T Reactor pH DO

 Mass Balance Data

Typical Inlet Gas Conditions Fairly consistent and

Off Peak Hours
14
Low Coal, High Air steady concentration
12

10
Inlet Gas CO2 / O2 %

8
As plant ramps down
overnight to match
6
lower demand, CO2
concentration
4
decreases while O2
increases.
2

0
9/9/15 12:00 9/9/15
PM 2:24 PM
9/9/15 4:48 PM
9/9/15 7:12 PM
9/9/15 9:369/10/15
PM 12:009/10/15
AM 2:249/10/15
AM 4:489/10/15
AM 7:129/10/15
AM 9:36 AM

Axis Title

O2/% IN CO2/% IN
Mass Balance Data 2

CO2 reaches
equilibrium below
inlet
concentration.

Indicates CO2
conversion to O2
via
photosynthesis.

Highlights
opportunity to
optimize CO2
conversion
 Mass Balance Data 3

CO2 reaches
equilibrium at
lower
concentration.
O2
production Indicates CO2
conversion to O2
Inlet %
via
CO2 photosynthesis.
reduction
Highlights
opportunity to
optimize CO2
conversion.
Targeting 75%
 Oxygen

5 Second Sparge
40 2500

35

2000
T (⁰C) , Oxygen (%)

30

25

PAR (µmol/m^2 s)
1500

20

1000
15

10
500

0 0
9/14/2015 0:00 9/16/2015 0:00 9/18/2015 0:00 9/20/2015 0:00

Date / Time

Tr O2 IN O2 OUT PAR
 CO2

20 Second Sparge
35 2500

30

2000

25
T (⁰C) , CO2 (%)

PAR (µmol/m^2 s)
1500
20

15
1000

10

500

0 0
9/8/2015 0:00 9/10/2015 0:00 9/12/2015 0:00 9/14/2015 0:00 9/16/2015 0:00

Tr CO2 IN CO2 OUT PAR

 CO2

5 Second Sparge
40 2500

35

2000

30
T (⁰C) , CO2 (%)

25
1500

PAR (µmol/m^2 s)
20

1000
15

10

500

0 0
9/14/2015 0:00 9/16/2015 0:00 9/18/2015 0:00 9/20/2015 0:00

Tr CO2 IN CO2 OUT PAR

 SOx in vs out

5 Second Sparge
40 2500

35

2000
30
T (⁰C) , SOx (ppm)

25

PAR (µmol/m^2 s)
1500

20

1000
15

10
500

0 0
9/14/2015 0:00 9/16/2015 0:00 9/18/2015 0:00 9/20/2015 0:00

Tr SOX IN SOX OUT PAR

 Proposed Layout of a 3 Acre Photobioreactor System

-  Zhengzhou, China
-  24 tubes per bank
-  24 banks per row
-  100 rows = 57,600 tubes
≈ 1,000,000L
 Student Engagement
Student involvement is an important focus of the project,
leveraging creative problem solving and enthusiasm to solve
real world research problems while developing the scientists and
engineers of tomorrow.
•  Student Employment / Experiential Learning
•  Undergraduate Engineers, Scientists, and
Architects contribute to day to day research activities
•  Senior Design Projects
•  CAER researchers act as customer/advisor to provide real world projects for student teams
in Mechanical, Electrical, and Chemical Engineering
•  Students get exposed to research and researchers at CAER get prototype equipment and/or
models to aid research
•  College of Design Studios
•  Architecture and/or Interior Design students work on developing forward thinking designs,
large scale instillations, next generation research facilities, and creative applications of
current research
•  Graduate Students / Postdocs
 Ongoing Collaborations

PBR installed at University of Delaware

Cyanidium merolae Dr. Jennifer Stewart
Dr. Pete Lammers, ASU
 Future Work

•  Reduce Cost / Increase Productivity

•  Optimized photobioreactor design and operation
•  Batch! continuous dewatering process
•  Conceptual Design of System Integrated with Power
Plant
•  Mass and Energy Balances
•  Power plant integration (heat, flue gas, etc.)
•  Life Cycle Assessment
•  Techno Economic Analysis
•  Biomass Utilization / Valorization
•  Investigate alternative / multi-product utilization pathways
•  Fate of NOx, SOx, heavy metals
•  Focus on fuels/chemicals and biopoloymers
•  Systems Biology
•  Power plant outage mitigation system
•  Flue gas constituents on biomass composition
•  Abiotic Parameter Optimization
 Acknowledgments

KY Department of Energy Development

and Independence

Duke Energy

Department of Energy: U.S.-China Clean Energy

Research Center
The UK algae team:
Dr. Mark Crocker Dr. Czarena Crofcheck
Dr. Jack Groppo Aubrey Shea
Stephanie Kesner Daniel Mohler
Thomas Grubbs Dr. Eduardo Santillan-
Jimenez
Robert Pace Tonya Morgan
And….. ca. 30 students
Questions?
 Challenges and Opportunities

•  Flue gas
•  Validation of trace element bioaccumulation
•  Can NOx be used as a Nitrogen source?
•  Short term storage for unexpected outages
•  Flue gas introduction
•  Process improvements
•  Continue to decrease capital and operating costs
•  Optimum mixing and light dispersion
•  Integration with cooling towers to raise/optimize reactor temperature
•  Minimize energy consumption
•  Process Control / Automation
•  Move to continuous harvesting/dilution (currently semi-batch)
•  Continue to develop utilization strategies and develop business
model
•  Investigate alternative / multi-product utilization pathways
•  Provide a product portfolio that reflects market demand
•  Refine characterization of nutrient recycling for anaerobic digestion
pathways
•  The future of coal: fuel vs. feedstock
•  Power station as a carbon refinery producing more than electricity and
waste
•  CO2 as a valuable byproduct vs. a pollutant
 SYSTEM SIZING
•  1 MW–hr of coal based power generation produces 1 ton of CO2/
hr
•  Elemental composition of algae shows that 1 ton of algae will
consume ca. 2 tons of CO2
Areal Productivity Land Required Production
(g algae/m2/day) (Acres) (Tons algae/acre/day)
10 269 0.04
20 134 0.09
30 89.5 0.13
40 67.3 0.18
50 53.8 0.22
60 44.8 0.27
100 27 0.45

32
• The dramatic effect of areal productivity on required land drove
the team toward the development of a low-cost photobioreactor
 Techno-economic Analysis
Effect of amortization period (10 vs. 30 years),
capital cost reduction and algae growth rate
3000

2500

2000
$/ ton CO2

1500 Baseline
30 yr base CAP
1000 30 Yr Low Cap

500

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Growth rate (g/(m2*day))

33
80
72.5 Harvest/Dewatering:
Typical Results
70

60
Volume, liters

50 Culture Density, g/
l
40
30
30 25.3

20

10
Distribution of Water in Harvest
0.4 0.45 0.17 Cycle
0

Thickener Feed Filter Feed Filter Cake

1.5%
0.6%

97.9% Thickener
Overflow
Filter
Filtrate
Filter Cake
34
Elemental Analysis of Algae Harvested at
East Bend

6/21/2013 6/28/2013 7/2/2013 7/8/2013 7/22/2013 7/29/2013 8/6/2013

% Ash 29.88 22.63 19.52 10.97 14.01 14.52 23.98

% Moisture 5.66 4.49 5.11 6.14 5.14 4.05 4.51

% Carbon 35.16 40.36 42.15 47 45.07 46.61 40.93

% Hydrogen 5.74 6.15 6.57 7.28 6.77 6.96 6.03

% Nitrogen 5.64 6.52 6.81 7.61 7.05 7.51 6.24

% Total Sulfur 0.42 0.48 0.53 0.59 0.6 0.6 0.44

% Oxygen 23.16 23.86 24.42 26.55 26.5 23.8 22.38

% Volatile
60.16 64.05 65.86 71.63 70.57 70.22 63.27
Matter
% Fixed
4.3 8.83 9.51 11.25 10.28 11.21 8.24
Carbon
ppm As <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1

ppm Se <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1

ppm Cd <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1

ppm Hg <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1

35