November 7th in Marshall Center Room 3705
George Philippidis, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Biofuel Engineering
Director, Alternative Energy Research Center
USF Polytechnic
4100 S. Frontage Road, Suite 102
Lakeland, FL 33815
(863) 904-9961 · gphilippidis@poly.usf.edu
Algae promise to revolutionize the production of alternative transportation fuels, but the technology faces formidable challenges on its way to commercialization. Water management is one of the major issues as algae need to be cultivated in huge ponds and harvested for further processing. As water represents an increasingly scarce resource, engineers need to identify ways to minimize water usage and handling for both cost and environmental reasons. Consistent lipid productivity is another critical cost factor as it determines the potential yield of alternative fuels and needs to be maximized. Moreover, carbon dioxide needs to be secured from real-world industrial operations in a cost-effective way. The presenter will discuss scale-up issues and his joint ventures with technology developers in the private sector and with venture capital firms and other investors.
Biography
George Philippidis, Ph.D. is the director of the Alternative Energy Research Center and associate professor of biofuel engineering at USF Polytechnic. He comes to USF from Florida International University, where he served as energy director of the Applied Research Center, co-director of the Global Energy Security Forum, and research associate professor in the College of Engineering and Computing. Prior to that he held management positions at a subsidiary of Thermo Fisher Corporation and at the National Renewable Energy Lab. He has 18 years of experience in leading strategic business units in biofuels, energy, and biotechnology. His expertise includes biofuels (sugarcane and cellulosic ethanol and biodiesel), renewable energy (solar, wind, biomass, and ocean power generation), energy security, and integration of alternatives into the oil & gas, coal, and nuclear infrastructure. He holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota and an executive MBA from the University of Denver. Dr. Philippidis can be contacted at gphilippidis@poly.usf.edu. 
I am excited to find out what the latest trends are in this field. I had read about a breakthrough that decreases the cost of dewatering, removing and harvesting by > 99%. And that light immersion technology can double algae density.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to this presentation by Dr. George Philippidis. Algae harvest energy conversion to biofuel technology is a promising alternative to fossil fuel. With present resources available for the microalgae mass production and hence, high oil yield, microalgal can sufficiently be a new source of renewable energy to replace the fossil fuels.
ReplyDeletePerhaps Dr. Philippidis will address the following research gaps during the presentation:
(a) Since open pond system exhibits higher algae cell densities, which dewatering or harvesting technology works the best.
(b) This system requires relatively large land space as well as water; any breakthrough in solving these problems.
(c) How is this system kept under control since it’s vulnerable to contamination or attack by invasive algae species, bacterial, and others.
(d) Water, temperature as well as light conditions of open pond system are very difficult to control, what measures are adopted to address these issues and optimize the system.
I'm looking forward to Dr. Philippidis’s presentation today on the possible results of developing algal biodiesel in developed and developing economies.
ReplyDeleteI think that developed countries are more likely to adopt clean energies because they have more flexible economies but feasibility of developing new energies to replace fossil fuels in developing economies seems challengeable.
It will be interesting to know methods for producing biofuel from various sources like algae, oil crop, waste cooking oil and animal fats and restrictions in their production.
I think, Dr. Philippidis will address composition and structure of algae and mechanism of biomass production during the presentation
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ReplyDeleteSummary of Dr. Philippidis’s presentation
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning, Dr. Philippidis introduced the potential of Florida for producing biofuel from algae. He mentioned that there are various factors which include warm weather, sun light, marginal land (phosphate mines), high yield projection, partnership with the private sector, existing CO2 from industrial operations (fertilizer, power plants,…) and strategic location for production and land/sea logistics.
The algae take CO2 and using sun light and photosynthesis make lipids, proteins and sugar that can be burnt as a fuel.
According to Dr. Philippidis’s presentation after screening and characterization, algae are cultivated in water. CO2, sun light and nutrients are essential parameters in this step. The biomass must be harvested, and processed to produce biodiesel, biodiesel etc.
In the United States, production capacity of biofuel for algae was given as 2600 gallons per acre this capacity is 60, 550 and 380 gallons per acre for soybean, palm and corn ethanol, respectively. This results illustrates the highest yields were confined to the algae as a source for biofuel. Moreover, algae have beneficial aspects including growing in seawater or waste water and absorbing 2 kg of CO2 to produce 1 kg of biomass.
Based on Dr. Philippidis’s presentation, there are two principal existing technologies in cultivating of algae. The first is open pond which needs low investment and produces low biomass density and has medium yield. The second is closed photobioreactor (PBR) which needs high investment and produces high biomass density and has medium high yield.
Dr. Philippidis’s results illustrated that integrated aeration system-floating in water body is the best method to produce biofuel from algae. The results of his study showed that this technique had a significant ability to reduce cost of required materials (using thin film and reducing cost of pipe installment) increase biomass density and decrease downstream cost (short light path).
References:
DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2010.03.005
DOI: 10.1016/j.enconman.2010.06.010
DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2009.10.009
DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2011.01.059
Recently, algae have a good potential for generating bio-energy as well as eco-friendly products. Dr. philippidis introduced various algal energy potential which can utilize jet fuel, biodiesel, and animal feed as sugar source etc. He also pointed out advantages of applying algae in wastewater treatment. For example, if algae combine with wastewater treatment system, algae can get the nutrient from wastewater, and at the same time, organic matter in wastewater will be able to be removed by algae. After cultivating algae in wastewater, it can utilize energy sources. However, there are several challenges in the commercial development algae. Especially, cultivating and harvesting algae is critical issues for cost factor. Cultivating algae needs large space and CO2 as nutrients. Actually, providing CO2 using a pump is not a cost effective. So he mentioned that application of emitted CO2 from plants may be alternative method in the cultivating stage. He introduced there are two kinds of cultivating method, open pond and closed photobioreactor, in commercial development. Since both of technology have pros and cons for considering economically feasibility. He introduced one alternative technology about the photobioreactor, thin film reactor. This reactor has technically advantages compared with previous photobioreactor. It is cost effective method for not only cultivating but harvesting algae. Moreover, it has excellent properties for easy maintenance and control temperature. Finally, he pointed importance of the researches by introducing a lot of companies and governments engaged in the algae research projects
ReplyDeleteI think the talk was very informative. It was a general overview of the conversion of microalgae to energy and other useful bioproducts. Dr. Philippidis pointed out that the production of lipid is one of the major factors in the production of biofuel (e.g diesel) from microalgae. In my current research project, one of the goals is to optimize the concentration of lipid by controlling nitrogen level, light intensity and temperature, salinity and CO2 concentration and harvesting procedure. Also, the most effective method of improving microalgae lipid accumulation is nitrogen limitation, which results in the accumulation of lipids and gradual change of lipid composition from free acids to triacylgerol (TAG). Research has confirmed that TAGs are more useful for conversion to biodiesel. Deficiency of silicate (in diatoms, just like nitrogen, results in accumulation of lipids within the microalgae.
ReplyDeleteI believe it was informative for those who haven't heard of microalgae. It felt a little like he was trying to 'sell' an idea rather than presenting to an academic institution. There wasn't much in terms of concrete facts and the research is still preliminary. Nonetheless I'm glad he came and shared his ideas; he definitely knew more than he shared in his presentation (as evidenced by his answers to questions), and hope that when he returns his insight and understanding of the field will be more evident in his discussion.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the presentation very well. Dr Phillippidis answered no to whether the algae that naturally grow on surfaces of water in response to nutrient pollution could also be used for energy production. I believe further research on this will be helpful. This will be a good way to decrease production cost in municipal water supply.
ReplyDelete