Team+Algae


 * This page is meant to document the progress of the algae team and provide a source of useful information to future teams.**

2. Design a fully enclosed growth system to minimize contamination and maximize control over growth variables 3. Determine possible methods for extracting lipids from our algae 4. Use these extracted lipids to produce biofuels
 * Goals** of the project: 1. Grow substantial quantities of algae and find the ideal growth formula
 * Much of this may be more geared towards proof of concept than full-scale production, but who knows

[link explaining a bit of Josh Wolf's project: [|Josh Wolf Podcast]
 * 2012 - 2013 team summary**: Tried growing chlorella and ankistrodesmus species, but chlorella died off quickly. At peak had about 15 healthy gallons growing. Contacted Josh Wolf and attempted to replicate his method of shocking algae with electricity to make it give off lipids through the cell membrane without dying, but method was never successfully replicated. "Quick Start Miracle Grow" with 14 hrs of continuous light followed by 10 hrs of continuous dark consistently yielded the best growth patterns. Air stones/pumps/tubes were used for mixing and aeration, rather than manually.

-DI water used as medium -14hrs light, 10hrs dark continuous cycle by timer -Vigorous air bubblers used to mix cultures for light exposure and aerate with carbon dioxide -Feed with about 5 drops of Quick Start Miracle Grow per liter of algae solution, twice a week
 * Basic Algae Growth Formula:** //(Has the potential to be improved, but does work)//

(***Some images have more detailed descriptions if you click on them to reveal the caption)**
 * Progressive Notes on 2013 - 2014 Algae Team** (accomplishments and setbacks):

11/4/13

11/8/13

1st Extraction Experiment





11/15/13
 * Using IPA, we hope to be able to break down the algae's cell wall and vacuoles in order to release the lipids held within. We will be testing different concentrations of IPA (70% and 88%) in solution with the algae paste as a preliminary experiment. The solutions were left overnight to settle.

Results Of 1st Experiment

***The significance of these results (that the IPA separated the solid algae biomass from the liquid, including water and IPA) lies in the fact that the algae lipids must be present somewhere, either the solid or the liquid. If in the solid, then we can use this method in the place of centrifuging to collect and dry our biomass in an infinitely shorter and easier process. However, if the lipids were released from the cells using IPA and are suspended in the liquid solution, then after a day or so of settling we should be able to discern a layer of them floating above the rest of the solution in the bottle, meaning we have succeeded in the third step of our goals (to find a method to extract lipids) and we can move on to the fourth which is using those extracted lipids to produce biofuels. Both scenarios are good, the second is just better. 11/19/13

//-A quick additional note:// Here are two lab reports that were emailed to us at the beginning of 2013 from a PhD student at the University of Michigan when we reached out for assistance. The first outlines a process for extracting lipids from Nannochloropsis using IPA, the second outlines a possible process for converting those extracted lipids into biodiesel. I am using these as a jumping off point for this research and experimentation.

(#1)

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