Open-Raceway

Algal Production

Operations

September 2014

Dave Hazlebeck

The views expressed are those of the author(s) and

do not reflect the official policy or position of the

Department of Defense or the U.S. Government.

Distribution Statement “A” (Approved

for Public Release, Distribution Unlimited)

Distribution Statement “A” (Approved

for Public Release, Distribution Unlimited)

Global Algae Innovations

Founded in December 2013 to produce algae for

Protein, Biofuel, and High Value Products

Distribution Statement “A” (Approved

for Public Release, Distribution Unlimited)

Global Algae Innovations

Focused on Low-Cost Production Technology

• Suite of advances throughout the process

• Economical process for biofuels iis within reach

• Novel, inexpensive photobioreactor

Operating 33-acre algae facility in Kauai

• Scalable system design with integrated harvesting, dewatering, and drying

• CO2 supplied from off-gas of adjacent power plant

• Large-scale open system operated with negligible contamination

Partnerships for application to high value products

• Strain development

• Established distribution channels

• Specialized unit operations

Teaming on Government R&D Projects

• Teams include universities, government laboratories, technology providers, testing facility owners, and product end users

Distribution Statement “A” (Approved

for Public Release, Distribution Unlimited)

33-Acre Kauai Algae Facility

Distribution Statement “A” (Approved

for Public Release, Distribution Unlimited)

Largest Raceway is 3.2 Acres

Distribution Statement “A” (Approved

for Public Release, Distribution Unlimited)

• Constructed in 2011 and operated until March 2012

- Scalable raceway design, high algal concentration and high productivity

- Large-scale open system with negligible contamination

- Round the clock carbon dioxide supply from power plant effluent with low pressure drop on the gas

- Mechanical dewatering to over 30% solids and full media recycle

• Idle from March 2012 to March 2014

• March 2014 to Present

- Repairs and retrofits completed

- Fully operational with improved capabilities

Kauai Algae Facility History

Distribution Statement “A” (Approved

for Public Release, Distribution Unlimited)

Permanent Connection to Power Plant

Stack for CO2 Supply

• All CO2 for growth from adjacent

power plant stack

• 24 hour per day CO2 recovery

• Power plant off-gas returned to

stack after CO2 recovery

Distribution Statement “A” (Approved

for Public Release, Distribution Unlimited)

Raceway System is Fully Operational

Raceway System Repair and Retrofits

• Small raceways started in March

• Larger raceways started in June

after power plant connection

• Improved data acquisition and

control system

• Cultivated a number of strains

- chlorella

- scenedesmus

- Diatoms

- Cyanobacteria

Distribution Statement “A” (Approved

for Public Release, Distribution Unlimited)

New Harvesting, Dewatering and Drying

System Fully Operational

Distribution Statement “A” (Approved

for Public Release, Distribution Unlimited)

Fully Integrated Harvesting,

Dewatering and Drying

• Dewater to ~30% solids

• Dry to 94% solids

• Fully integrated operation from

harvest through dry material

Distribution Statement “A” (Approved

for Public Release, Distribution Unlimited)

Membrane Permeability Independent of

Algae Concentration

0

100

200

300

400

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Mem

branePerm

eab

ility,LMH/TMP

RetentateAlgae(g/L)

TestCondi ons:6000litersprocessedAlgaecollec onefficiency~99.4%

Distribution Statement “A” (Approved

for Public Release, Distribution Unlimited)

Full Media Recycle

Distribution Statement “A” (Approved

for Public Release, Distribution Unlimited)

Starting 12 Month Continuous

Operational Test This Fall

Cultivation

• C, N, P balance

• Productivity

• Weather

• Microscopy

• Flow cytometer

• Oil and protein content

Unit Operations

• Yield

• Product quality

• Energy use

• Efficacy

Distribution Statement “A” (Approved

for Public Release, Distribution Unlimited)

Opportunities for Collaboration During

the Operational Test

• Collect samples for additional data on fully characterized system,

e.g. qPCR, transcriptomics, FlowCam, areal spectrophotometry

• Slip streams and area for piloting of new harvesting,

dewatering, or drying technologies

• Algae biomass for extraction testing

• Excess algae meal for feed, polymer, or other product trials

Distribution Statement “A” (Approved

for Public Release, Distribution Unlimited)

Current Collaborators

TSD Management Associates

Distribution Statement “A” (Approved

for Public Release, Distribution Unlimited)

ACKNOWLEGEMENT

Global Algae Innovations wishes to acknowledge

support from Defense Advanced Research Projects

Agency (DARPA) as well as technical/contract

support from Army Research Office (ARO).