title: Waste molasses alone displaces glucose-based medium for microalgal fermentation towards cost-saving biodiesel production.
abstract: The by-product of sugar refinery-waste molasses was explored as alternative to glucose-based medium of Chlorella protothecoides in this study. Enzymatic hydrolysis is required for waste molasses suitable for algal growth. Waste molasses hydrolysate was confirmed as a sole source of full nutrients to totally replace glucose-based medium in support of rapid growth and high oil yield from algae. Under optimized conditions, the maximum algal cell density, oil content, and oil yield were respectively 70.9 g/L, 57.6%, and 40.8 g/L. The scalability of the waste molasses-fed algal system was confirmed from 0.5L flasks to 5L fermenters. The quality of biodiesel from waste molasses-fed algae was probably comparable to that from glucose-fed ones. Economic analysis indicated the cost of oil production from waste molasses-fed algae reduced by 50%. Significant cost reduction of algal biodiesel production through fermentation engineering based on the approach is expected.
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, PR China.
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Yi-Feng
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Qingyu
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D056804:Biofuels / Q000032:analysis* / Q000191:economics; D018533:Biomass; D019149:Bioreactors / Q000382:microbiology; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000191:economics* / Q000379:methods*; D017046:Cost Savings; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D003470:Culture Media / Q000494:pharmacology; D005285:Fermentation / Q000187:drug effects*; D005742:Gasoline / Q000032:analysis / Q000191:economics; D005947:Glucose / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006868:Hydrolysis / Q000187:drug effects; D058086:Microalgae / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D008965:Molasses / Q000032:analysis*; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000138:chemical synthesis; D014866:Waste Products / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D003470:Culture Media; D005742:Gasoline; D010938:Plant Oils; D014866:Waste Products; D005947:Glucose