title: System and method for research-scale outdoor production of microalgae and cyanobacteria.
abstract: Eukaryotic microalgae and cyanobacteria have recently reemerged as promising organisms in the effort to develop sustainable options for production of food and fuel. However, substantial discrepancies consistently arise between laboratory and outdoor cultivation, and gains demonstrated using laboratory technologies have not paralleled gains observed in field demonstrations. For these reasons, a low-maintenance system and process for research-scale outdoor cultivation of a variety of both freshwater and marine microalgae and cyanobacteria was developed. Nine genera were evaluated in the system, demonstrating cultivation of both laboratory model and commercial-production organisms. Hundreds to thousands of grams of dry biomass could be produced in a single growth cycle, suitable for a variety of uses including inoculum generation, protein production, and biofuel applications. Following testing in outdoor stock-ponds, Scenedesmus and Nannochloropsis were grown semi-continuously in an 8000 L airlift-driven raceway, yielding in total over 8 kg of dry biomass for each strain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States; The California Center for Algae Biotechnology, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive MC0368, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States.
authors.forename: Nathan G
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Schoepp
authors.affiliation: The California Center for Algae Biotechnology, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive MC0368, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States; Division of Biological Sciences, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive MC0368, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States.
authors.forename: Ryan L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Stewart
authors.affiliation: The California Center for Algae Biotechnology, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive MC0368, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States; Division of Biological Sciences, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive MC0368, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States.
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States; The California Center for Algae Biotechnology, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive MC0368, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States.
authors.forename: Alexandra J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Quigley
authors.affiliation: The California Center for Algae Biotechnology, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive MC0368, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States; Scripps Institute of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States.
authors.forename: Dominick
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mendola
authors.affiliation: The California Center for Algae Biotechnology, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive MC0368, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States; Division of Biological Sciences, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive MC0368, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States.
authors.forename: Stephen P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Mayfield
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States; The California Center for Algae Biotechnology, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive MC0368, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States. Electronic address: mburkart@ucsd.edu.
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Burkart
mesh_terms: D018533:Biomass; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D044444:Scenedesmus / Q000254:growth & development*; D013045:Species Specificity; D058009:Stramenopiles / Q000254:growth & development*
keywords: Growth system; Microalgae biomass; Microalgae cultivation; Outdoor growth; Raceway