Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 369-438 |
Number of pages | 70 |
Journal | Critical Reviews in Biotechnology |
Volume | 4 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1 Jan 1986 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biotechnology
- Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology
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In: Critical Reviews in Biotechnology, Vol. 4, No. 4, 01.01.1986, p. 369-438.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
TY - JOUR
T1 - Microalgaculture
AU - Richmond, Amos E.
AU - Soeder, Carl J.
N1 - Funding Information: Warburg' introduced the idea of using dense suspensions of Chlorella as a tool for the research of photosynthesis. It was thereafter recognized that certain microalgae could increase their biomass many times per day and that their dry matter might contain over 50% of crude protein. The idea for mass production of algae was first tested in Germany, with the aim of producing lipids from nitrogen-starved diatoms that were shown to accumulate fats.2 Interest in research in this field began in the early 1950s and has since progressed steadily. Attempts to grow substantial quantities of microalgae resulted in techniques for continuous cultivation^.^.^ As reviewed by G~ldmanC,õ ok's work played a major role in the early attempts to mass culture algae for potential commercial application, with other leaders in this new research endeavor being Davis and French6 at the Carnegie Institution in Washington. Other influential work was that of Spoehr and Milner,' who worked in the same Institute. They showed that the chemical composition of Chlorella, particularly the fat and protein content, could be readily manipulated by varying growth conditions. In the U.S., interest in algal mass culture began at that time in the Carnegie Institution of Washington, where several pilot plant culture units were run. These experiments became well known and were much debated. At that time, Tamiyan and co-workers at the Tokugawa Institute of Biology, Tokyo, tried the outdoor mass culture of Chlorella as part of the international project of algal culture, which was also supported by the Carnegie Institution. Japan was the first country to produce and sell Chlorella as a health food or as a water-soluble extract termed ' 'Chlorella growth factor' ' . Gummert9 and collaborators in the Kohlenstoffbiologische Forschungsstation e.V., Essen, West Germany, investigated the potential for mass cultivation of Scenedesmus. Their idea was to utilize the waste carbon dioxide (CO,) produced in the Rhine industrial zone for growing Chlorella sp. and Scenedesmus acutus. That work was transferred to Dortmund, where a group headed by Soeder developed many important features which are employed today for the mass culture of algae, including a raceway with an endless channel in which stirring of the algal medium was by means of a paddle wheel.1° A significant impetus to the field of mass culture was provided by the German government in the early 1970s which was prepared to support extensive research in various developing countries, and thus there began Scenedesmus culturing in Thailand, India, and Peru, using the Dortmund philosophy for algal culture. II Another beginning in mass-production research took place in the Institute of Hydrobotany , in Trebon, Czechoslovakia, which developed a cascade-type culture apparatus and began to produce Scenedesmus in 1960. Later, this type of culturing device was also used at a research station in Rupite, Bulgaria for the mass production of Chlorella. l2 The interest in the production of Spirulina biomass began somewhat later, in the early 1960s, with the work of Clement of the Institut Francais du Petrole (IFP). Clement and co-workersf3 were inspired by the observation that tribes along the shores of Lake Chad have been collecting Spirulina maxima since time immemorial, using it as a part of their diet. Oswald and co-workers at the University of California, Berkeley introduced a new concept in mass production of algae. They suggested that large-scale algal cultures could be simultaneously used for protein production and wastewater treatment. l4 An interesting prospect for algaculture emerged in this context in the mid-1960s with interest in bioregenerative life-support systems for possible use in space travel. Oswald and co-workers provided evidence that algal systems could effectively be used in this capacity. ‘’,I6 Another contribution, by Oswald and Golueke, was the demonstration that algae could be fermented to methane with conversion efficiencies of 50 to 70%.” This formed the basis of several schemes for the bioconversion of solar energy to methane using algal mass-production systems. Still another interesting concept for algal mass culture was introduced in the early 1970s by Ryther and co-workers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, i.e., to develop a marine counterpart to Oswald’s freshwater system.’’ The overall objective was to channel nutrients in wastewater through a marine food chain: first mass-culturing of marine phytoplankton on wastewater mixed with sea water, then feeding the algal cultures directly to hellf fish.^ Today, interest in the mass culture of microalgae is worldwide. In general, there are five related, yet different, concepts that have been tested and seem promising; they are described below.
PY - 1986/1/1
Y1 - 1986/1/1
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84907112285&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3109/07388558609150801
DO - 10.3109/07388558609150801
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84907112285
SN - 0738-8551
VL - 4
SP - 369
EP - 438
JO - Critical Reviews in Biotechnology
JF - Critical Reviews in Biotechnology
IS - 4
ER -