Algae on

 

Two engineers in the US are assessing how to make algae oil production more cost effective so it could be a contender to replace fossil fuels.

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The engineers from Kansas State (K-State) University in the US are looking at large-scale algae production in the ocean, so as not to use land reserved for food production.
 
Firstly, Wenqiao Yuan and Zhijian Pei are working to identify the oil-rich algae species that are inclined to grown en masse on a solid surface, to make their production and harvesting manageable.
 
"We think there is tremendous potential for algae oil production if we grow it on big platforms and incorporate the ocean into the system," Yuan, assistant professor of biological and agricultural engineering at K-State, said. Half the cost of growing algae is in providing a steady supply of food and water, the growth medium. Ocean water offers those in abundance, he said.
 
Secondly, in their studies, the researchers found that two species of algae attached very well to a stainless steel, thin film surface that was slightly dimpled. Furthermore, once the algae attach, they grow very well, producing a green clump several millimetres thick.
 
"We are doing very fundamental research now," Yuan added. "We need to understand the algae attachment mechanism before we can select species more likely to attach to a solid support."
 
The team presented these results at the 59th general assembly of CIRP, the International Academy for Production Engineering, in Boston., US, in August.

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