• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.197-204
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• 2016

The growth of the algae strain Chlorella vulgaris under mixotrophic conditions in the presence of saccharified acorn-starch (acorn-glucose) was evaluated with the objective of increasing biomass growth and triacylglycerols (TAGs) content. The results indicated that 81.3% of starch was converted to glucose in acorns. C.vulgaris algal strains grown with acorn-glucose produced higher biomass and TAGs content than with autotrophic growth. The highest biomass production and TAGs content with 3 g/L acorn-glucose were 12.44 g/L and 32.9%, respectively. Biomass production with 3 g/L acorn-glucose was 16.4 fold higher than under autotrophic growth condition. These findings suggested that 3 g/L acorn-glucose is economic and efficient for biomass production/productivity and TAGs content of microalgae. This study provides a feasible way to reduce the cost of bioenergy production from microalgae.

• Clean Technology
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.357-364
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• 2018

Studies on the production of biogas from third generation biomass, such as micro- and macroalgae, have been conducted through experiments of various scales. In this paper, we investigated the feasibility of commercialization of integrated combined heat and power (CHP) production using biogas derived from macroalgae, i.e., seaweed biomass. For this purpose, an integrated CHP plant of industrial scale, consisting of solid oxide fuel cells, gas turbine and organic Rankine cycle, was designed and simulated using a commercial process simulator. The cost of each equipment in the plant was estimated through the calculated heat and mass balances from simulation and then the techno-economic analysis was performed. The designed integrated CHP process produces 68.4 MW of power using $36ton\;h^{-1}$ of biogas from $62.5ton\;h^{-1}$ (dry basis) of brown algae. Based on these results, various scenarios were evaluated economically and the levelized electricity cost (LEC) was calculated. When the lifetime of SOFC is 5 years and its stack price is $$225kW^{-1}$, the LEC was 12.26 ¢ $kWh^{-1}$, which is comparable to the conventional fixed power generation.

• Clean Technology
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.435-440
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• 2017

Fast pyrolysis of third generation biomass, including micro- and macroalgae for biofuel production has recently been studied and compared experimentally to first- and second-generation biomass. Compared to microalgae, however, process design and simulation study of macroalgae for scale-up has been rare in literature. In this study, we designed and simulated an industrial scale process for producing diesel range biofuel from brown algae based on bench scale experimental data of fast pyrolysis using a commercial process simulator. During process design, special attention was paid to the process design to accommodate the differences in composition of brown algae compared to terrestrial biomass. The entire process of converting 380,000 tonnes of dry brown algae per year into diesel range biofuel was economically evaluated and the minimum (diesel) selling price was also estimated through techno-economic analysis.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.36 no.9
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• pp.609-613
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• 2014

The aim of this study was effect of N/P ratio on the nutrient removal in the wastewater using microalgae. For this experiment, 1 to 70 various N/P ratio was prepared and used microalgae as Botryococcus braunii in the wastewater. The results of this study were that 1 to 30 of N/P ratio was need for biomass productivity in the wastewater. TN removal was measured 82% for 1 to 30 N/P ratio and 73-78% for 31 to 70 N/P ratio. TP removal in 1 to 20 N/P ratio was determined up to 80%, but over 21 N/P ratio was decreased significantly and was not changed around 22% of TP removal in the 50 to 70 N/P ratio. Therefore, the optimum N/P ratio in the wastewater was 1 to 30 for biomass productivity, TN and TP removal. The correlation ($R^2$) of TP removal and biomass productivity was 0.9126. However, the relationship between TN removal and biomass productivity was not found. The P content in the wastewater was influenced more than that of TN content.

• Journal of the KSME
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• v.55 no.7
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• pp.32-36
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• 2015

최근 화석 연료의 과다 사용에 따른 에너지 자원 고갈 및 환경오염에 대한 우려가 증가함에 따라 비화석연료 기반의 재생가능하고 지속가능하며, 환경친화성이 높은 에너지에 대한 관심이 급증하고 있다. 농산폐기물, 폐목재, 에너지작물, 도시고형폐기물, 미세조류, 거대조류 등 육상 및 해상에서 발생하는 바이오매스는 재생가능한 에너지원으로서 화석원료와는 달리 사용 후 발생하는 이산화탄소를 다시 흡수하는 탄소중립(carbon-nutral)의 특성을 갖고 있어 전세계적으로 많은 주목을 받고 있다. 바이오연료 중 당질계원료를 이용하는 바이오에탄올 및 식물성유지를 이용하는 바이오디젤은 현재 상업적인 생산이 이루어지고 있으나, 이들 1세대 바이오연료는 식량자원과의 경쟁이라는 원천적인 한계를 가지고 있고, 분자구조식에 산소를 포함하고 있기 때문에 기존 화석원료에서 출발하는 가솔린, 항공유 및 디젤과 비교하였을 때 에너지 함량이 낮은 단점이 있다. 따라서 기존 1세대 바이오연료에서 탈피하여, 식량자원과 경쟁이 없으며, 또한 분자구조식에 산소를 적게 포함하거나 아예 포함하지 않는 바이오연료("drop-in" 바이오연료) 생산에 많은 관심이 집중되고 있다. 이 글에서는 최근 그린공정으로 대표되는 초임계 유체를 이용한 "drop-in" 바이오연료를 제조하기 위한 바이오매스 액화의 기술동향을 소개하고자 한다.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.604-615
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• 2019

In this study, we produce a new type of the algae soil conditioner(ASC) using discarded algae biomass through a composting process and evaluate its nutritional characteristics. As the main ingredient, the ASCs used algae biomass collected through the coagulation-floating method and made by adding a variety of additional supporting materials (sawdust, pearlite, oilcake etc.). ASCs were divided into 0% in blank, 11.7% in ASC1, 21.6% in ASC2, 37.6% in ASC3, 59.5% in ASC4, and composted during 127 days. ASCs showed a sharp increase in temperature by aerobic microbial reaction, and 6~7 high and low temperature peaks were observed. As a result of physicochemical analysis, mineralization proceeded according to decomposing the organic matter and there was a marked increase not only in macronutrients (TN, P₂O₅, K₂O), but also in secondary macronutrients (CaO, MgO). The microbial community change was found in stage 1 (bacteria, filamentous fungi) → stage 2 (actinomycetes, bacteria) → stage 3 (Bacillus sp.), depending on the maturation process. It was estimated that microbial transition was closely related to temperature change and nutritional behavior. The quality of soil conditioner can be determined according to the maturity of compost process, and it was determined that effective microbial activity could be induced by controlling algae biomass below 59.5% in this study. In conclusion, we found out the possibility of manufacturing and utilizing soil conditioner recycled algae biomass and if further technological development is made on the basis it can be used as an effective soil conditioner.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.328-336
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• 2020

Parachlorella sp. is an efficient fatty acid producer that can be used in the production of biofuels, feeds, and fertilizers. Microalgae show varying responses to culture conditions, even those within the same species. In this study, growth and fatty acid composition of a newly isolated Parachlorella sp. from the Nakdong river of Korea in different culture media were investigated. The microalga was cultivated in 400 ml bubble column photobioreactors using BG-11, BBM, TAP, and modified TAP (MTAP) media. It was shown that using BBM led to greater fatty acid accumulation (34%), while using TAP medium led to greater biomass productivity (0.34 g/l/day). Composition of the TAP medium was modified to have the N:P ratio of BBM while also varying concentrations of N and P to improve fatty acid productivity. One of the modified TAP media, MTAP-1 (104.8 mgN/l, 135.2 mgP/l, N:P ratio = 0.77), showed the highest fatty acid concentration of 0.69 ± 0.04 g/l, while those from TAP and BBM were 0.48 ± 0.06 g/l and 0.40 ± 0.02 g/l, respectively. The results showed that microalgal fatty acid productivity could be enhanced by changing the N:P ratio and concentrations.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.547-555
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• 2020

Microalgae are a promising resource in energy and food production as they are cost-effective for biomass production and accumulate valuable biological resources. In this study, CO2 assimilation, biomass, and lipid production of 4 microalgal species (Chlorella vulgaris, Mychonastes homosphaera, Coelastrella sp., and Coelastrella vacuolata) were characterized at different CO2 concentrations ranging from 1% to 9%. Microscopic observation indicated that C. vulgaris was the smallest, followed by M. homosphaera, C. vacuolata, and Coelastrella sp. in order of size. C. vulgaris grew and consumed CO2 more rapidly than any other species. C. vulgaris exhibited a linear increase in CO2 assimilation (up to 9.62 mmol·day-1·l-1) as initial biomass increased, while the others did not (up to about 3 mmol·day-1·l-1). C. vulgaris, Coelastrella sp., and C. vacuolata showed a linear increase in the specific CO2 assimilation rate with CO2 concentration, whereas M. homosphaera did not. Moreover, C. vulgaris had a greater CO2 assimilation rate compared to those of the other species (14.6 vs. ≤ 11.9 mmol·day-1·l-1). Nile-red lipid analysis showed that lipid production per volume increased linearly with CO2 concentration in all species. However, C. vulgaris increased lipid production to 18 mg·l-1, compared to the 12 mg·l-1 produced by the other species. Thus, C. vulgaris exhibited higher biomass and lipid production rates with greater CO2 assimilation capacity than any other species.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.223-229
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• 2020

Biodiesel produced using microorganisms, which are recognized as the third-generation biomass, is among the various known renewable energy sources that can replace fossil fuels used in conventional transportation. Scenedesmus obliquus has been identified as an excellent species for biodiesel production, as it grows faster and can accumulate up to 40-50 percent of the dry cell weight. Enhancing production using S. obliquus requires measuring the cell mass for controlling the cultivation process. In the current study, S. obliquus was cultured for 75 days, and growth changes of the microalgae were measured by absorbance, microscopic imaging, and Raman spectroscopy. Between days 60 to 75 of culture, the change in absorbance was observed to be less than 3%, whereas the number of microalgae observed microscopically was more than three times higher. Moreover, the Raman spectroscopy results showed three strong peak values of β-carotene at 997 cm^-1, 1148 cm^-1, and 1515 cm^-1, with peak values of β-carotene showing greater than 3-fold increase during the culture period. Therefore, we predict that application of Raman spectroscopy will help in identifying the growth elements and growth degree in microalgae culture during increased biomass production.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.3-11
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• 2006