TY - JOUR
T1 - Valuable bioproducts from microalgae
T2 - A superstructure optimization approach
AU - Raeisi, Maryam
AU - Huang, Jiawei
AU - Franke, Meik B.
AU - Zondervan, Edwin
N1 - Funding Information:
All persons who have made substantial contributions to the work reported in the manuscript (e.g. technical help, writing and editing assistance, general support), but who do not meet the criteria for authorship, are named in the Acknowledgements and have given us their written permission to be named. If we have not included an Acknowledgements, then that indicates that we have not received substantial contributions from non-authors.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023
PY - 2023/9
Y1 - 2023/9
N2 - A superstructure to produce added-value products (pigment, omega-3, glycerol, biodiesel, biogas, and fertilizers) from three species of microalgae (Chlorella vulgaris, Haematococcus pluvialis, Nannochloropsis spp.) is developed in this study. The superstructure is converted into a mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) model. A block integration approach is used to drastically decrease the CPU times by reducing the number of variables, parameters, and constraints. The model is solved with Baron/AOA in AIMMS software, and the most promising production pathway is identified. For all three biorefineries (cultivating different microalgae), the most promising production pathways (in terms of cost-effectiveness) remain consistent. These pathways involve an open pond, sedimentation and flotation, flocculation without any dryer, sonication, organic solvent pigment extraction, n-butanol solvent lipid extraction, lipid production, and anaerobic digestion. Changing technologies of dewatering stages (flocculation to centrifugation and filter press) proposes the second and third cost-effective production pathways. The most profitable biorefinery cultivates Haematococcus pluvialis, with annual profits of 62 $/kg of microalgae. A high amount of valuable pigment produced by Haematococcus pluvialis leads to 22 times higher profits than Chlorella vulgaris and 47 times higher than Nannochloropsis spp. The Haematococcus pluvialis biorefinery produces approximately 500 *103Kg of pigment bioproducts from 24 *106Kg biomass by using 200 *106Kg wastewater and 164 *106Kg of carbon dioxide, annually. Ultimately, a sensitivity analysis is executed to confirm how the production of pigment, the price of this bioproduct, and day/ night ratio affect the profitability of microalgae biorefineries.
AB - A superstructure to produce added-value products (pigment, omega-3, glycerol, biodiesel, biogas, and fertilizers) from three species of microalgae (Chlorella vulgaris, Haematococcus pluvialis, Nannochloropsis spp.) is developed in this study. The superstructure is converted into a mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) model. A block integration approach is used to drastically decrease the CPU times by reducing the number of variables, parameters, and constraints. The model is solved with Baron/AOA in AIMMS software, and the most promising production pathway is identified. For all three biorefineries (cultivating different microalgae), the most promising production pathways (in terms of cost-effectiveness) remain consistent. These pathways involve an open pond, sedimentation and flotation, flocculation without any dryer, sonication, organic solvent pigment extraction, n-butanol solvent lipid extraction, lipid production, and anaerobic digestion. Changing technologies of dewatering stages (flocculation to centrifugation and filter press) proposes the second and third cost-effective production pathways. The most profitable biorefinery cultivates Haematococcus pluvialis, with annual profits of 62 $/kg of microalgae. A high amount of valuable pigment produced by Haematococcus pluvialis leads to 22 times higher profits than Chlorella vulgaris and 47 times higher than Nannochloropsis spp. The Haematococcus pluvialis biorefinery produces approximately 500 *103Kg of pigment bioproducts from 24 *106Kg biomass by using 200 *106Kg wastewater and 164 *106Kg of carbon dioxide, annually. Ultimately, a sensitivity analysis is executed to confirm how the production of pigment, the price of this bioproduct, and day/ night ratio affect the profitability of microalgae biorefineries.
KW - Microalgae biorefinery
KW - MINLP
KW - Pigment extraction
KW - Superstructure optimization
KW - 2023 OA procedure
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85173977315&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.algal.2023.103259
DO - 10.1016/j.algal.2023.103259
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85173977315
SN - 2211-9264
VL - 75
JO - Algal research
JF - Algal research
M1 - 103259
ER -
