title: Opportunities to improve the areal oil productivity of microalgae.
abstract: Microalgae are often considered as a promising alternative source of vegetable oils. These oils can be used for food and biofuel applications. Productivities that are projected for large-scale microalgal oil production are, however, often poorly supported by scientific evidence and based on too optimistic assumptions. To facilitate the inclusion of the microalgal physiology in these projections, existing knowledge and novel scientific insights were condensed into a mechanistic model that describes photosynthesis and carbon partitioning during nitrogen starvation. The model is validated using experimental data from both wild-type and a starchless mutant of Scenedesmus obliquus. The model is subsequently used to quantify how reactor design, process design, and strain improvement can improve the oil productivity from 2.1 to up to 10.9 g m(-2) day(-1). These projected productivities are used to reflect on commonly assumed oil productivities and it is concluded that the microalgal oil productivity is often overestimated several folds.
authors.affiliation: Bioprocess Engineering & AlgaePARC, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: guido.breuer@wur.nl.
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Breuer
authors.affiliation: Bioprocess Engineering & AlgaePARC, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Packo P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Lamers
authors.affiliation: Bioprocess Engineering & AlgaePARC, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Janssen
authors.affiliation: Bioprocess Engineering & AlgaePARC, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands; Faculty Biosciences and Aquaculture, University of Nordland, N-8049 Bodø, Norway.
authors.forename: René H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Wijffels
authors.affiliation: Bioprocess Engineering & AlgaePARC, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Dirk E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Martens
mesh_terms: D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D002244:Carbon / Q000378:metabolism; D058086:Microalgae / Q000378:metabolism*; D008954:Models, Biological; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000172:deficiency; D010788:Photosynthesis / Q000502:physiology; D044444:Scenedesmus / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism*; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000096:biosynthesis*
chemical_list: D014280:Triglycerides; D002244:Carbon; D009584:Nitrogen
keywords: Mechanistic model; Oil; Productivity; Scenedesmus obliquus; Triacylglycerol (TAG)