Algae+2012-2013

=January 2013=

A Block:
This wiki is a source of knowledge left by previous students for future students to learn about the processes involved in growing algae. As students learn more, they should add to this wiki so that future students know the do's and don'ts of algae.

Main goal

Algae is a fast growing plant that can ultimately be used to create an alternative fuel source. Algal cells have high contents of oils and fats which can be efficiently extracted and used as a fuel. The overall process begins with growing of algae. Once the algae grows to a sufficient amount, the dry algae should be separated from the water through centrifugation or other means. The residual algae paste can then be pressed with an oil press to extract the oils, which would serve as a biofuel. So far, the Greengineers algae operation has only progressed to the algae paste stage, and just barely at that. Hopefully future Greengineers can continue the process further.

Growing algae

First, a sample of algae must be obtained. One option is buying a sample from an online vendor. We have used UTEX Algae: http://web.biosci.utexas.edu/utex/default.aspx, which has a wide selection of cultures. Contact the MIT team to find other possible vendors that they buy from. The second option is to go to a nearby brook or stream where algaecan be found. We never tried this method, but it could work, and is obviously very cost-effective.

Everything you need! []

**January 4, 2013 C-block**
Our algae is growing really well! The bottles of both strands with miracle grow are doing the best, and the bottles with medium are doing well, too. The algae in bottles with DI water is not growing at all. Although the algae is growing, it is not dense enough to transfer to more bottles. Once it becomes a darker, richer green, we will dilute it by splitting it up into more and larger bottles with extra medium. We purchased our algae and medium from Connecticut Valley.

**December 21, 2012 C-block**
The two strands of algae came this week. Yesterday, we placed them in bottles under different growing conditions to act as variables. So far, they are all growing, except the bottle with the medium, DI water, and fertilizer. We think this might be from over-fertilization. We will check in on them over break.

**December 3, 2012 C-block**
Below is the current algae setup from C-block and F-block. We have two lights on either side that are on 15-minute light-and-dark intervals. The silver aluminum tray is used as a reflective surface as well as a water container. C-block's algae (from left to right) is in the glass jam jar, the large bottle with a green tie, and the glass test tube that is not visible due to the obstructing bottle, and the small plastic canister. Our algae seems to be thriving. This is what we used: de-ionized (DI) water, coal and benzonite crystals used in moderation, fish emulsion and water clarifying bacteria used in marine fish tanks.

Below is the bottle named Abyss. The algae is from the Aquaponics tank. There is fish emulsion, coal benzonite mix, DI water, and clarifying bacteria. The water pump is squeezed by the green plastic zip-tie in order to decrease bubbling to a steady place so the algae is not constantly churned up and disrupted. As of December 3, it appears that the algae has grown a bit because it appears darker and thicker.

F-Block: Within the last two weeks we established what materials we have and what materials we might need. Now that we have finished, we are gathering materials to try and start growing our own algae. So far we had cleaned the water bottles and tried to find some reflective materials to keep the lights in. In order to get our culture running, we still need a few missing materials such as proper light, more reflective materials, and a stronger bubbler. The lighting we plan on getting is a long aquarium lights which are beneficial for growing our algae because they would provide even light distribution to the bottles