Due to increasing oil prices and climate change concerns, biodiesel has gained attention as an alternative energy source. Biodiesel derived from microalgae is a potentially renewable and carbon–neutral alternative to petroleum fuels. One of the most important decisions in obtaining oil from...

The process of microalgal cell attachment to solid-carrier surfaces was simulated through a thermodynamic model. The modeling results showed that, for most microbes, when the polar surface energy of the cell is smaller than that of water, cellular attachment would be more favorable on materials...

Interest in the use of microalgae for the production of biofuels has grown in recent years. Biomethane is a biofuel that can be obtained with high efficiency from anaerobic digestion of various organic feedstocks. In this study, a selection of freshwater (n=15) and marine (n=5) microalgae were...

Increasing microalgal starch content by nutrient limitation has been regarded as an affordable approach for the production of third generation bioethanol. This work evaluated starch accumulation in Chlorella vulgaris P12 under different initial concentrations of nitrogen (0–2.2gureaL−1) and...

The biomass and lipid productivities and the nutrient removal capacity of microalgae Nannochloropsis salina grown using anaerobically digested municipal wastewater effluent as a nutrient source were evaluated in this study. Results from bench-scale batch reactors showed that N. salina grew well...

The present work addresses energy consumption in raceway ponds (RWPs). This kind of systems are today the most utilized industrial plant for outdoor algae cultivation. The problem has been addressed combining theoretical correlations and experimental data. Head losses for conventional raceway...

Microalgae are promising biomass species owing to their fast growth rate and high CO2 fixation ability as compared to terrestrial plants. Microalgae have long been recognized as potentially good source for biofuel production because of their high oil content and rapid biomass production. In this...

The high cost of microalgae cultivation is one of the major hurdles in large scale production of microalgal biofuels. Cultivation in closed photobioreactors (PBR) to achieve high culture concentrations is a potential solution. However, existing PBR designs do not have the desired efficiencies,...

Global threats of fuel shortages in the near future and climate change due to green-house gas emissions are posing serious challenges and hence and it is imperative to explore means for sustainable ways of averting the consequences. The dual application of microalgae for phycoremediation and...

With rapid economic development, energy consumption in China has tripled in the past 20years, exceeding 2.8 billion tons of standard coal in 2008. The search for new green energy as substitutes for nonrenewable energy resources has become an urgent task. Biodiesel is one of the most important...