Current status of the large-scale culture of algae. In

369 Pages·2007·3.34 MB·English

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|OHN S. BURIEW
CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON PUBLICATION 600
WASHINGTON, D. C
ALGAL CULTURE
FROM LABORATORY TO PILOT PLANT
Edited by
JOHN S. BURLEW
CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON PUBLICATION 600
WASHINGTON, D. C.
This book first published July 15,1953
Second printing June 1955
Third printing March 1961
Fourth printing July 1.964
Fifth printing "May 1976
ISBN 0-87279-611-6
FOREWORD
The Carnegie Institution's project on the mass culture of algae is a
collateral development or offshoot of its program of research on photo-
synthesis. One part of this program was concerned with the nature of
the products which the plant makes in the photosynthetic process [200].
Several widely different species of plants were used in these investiga-
tions, but particular attention was paid to the unicellular alga Chlorella
pyrenoidosa [201], because of the broad range of environmental condi-
tions under which it can grow, and because this organism has been ex-
tensively used as a subject of study of many other aspects of the photo-
synthetic problem.
The experience gained in the culture of Chloreila was applied to a
wartime investigation, namely, the search for an antibacterial substance
that might be isolated from the culture solution in which Chlorella was
grown [202]. It turned out that the antibiotic activity resulted from a
complex photooxidation of the unsaturated fatty acids in the Chlorella
itself, and that a similar reaction could be induced in fatty acids from a
variety of sources [203, 204, 152].
After the war the investigation of the influence of environmental fac-
tors on the chemical composition of Chlorella was resumed. The con-
ditions for varying the protein and fat content over wide ranges were
established [151]. The nature of the lipides in the Chlorella was also in-
vestigated [91],
By the winter of 1947-1948 the possibility of growing Chlorella on a
large scale for food was being considered seriously. H. A. Spoehr and
Harold W. Milner prepared a preliminary analysis of the problem for
publication in Carnegie Institution of Washington Year Book No. 47 [206].
The sort of development that they suggested, involving applied research
and engineering, lay outside the scope of the Institution's usual activities.
The Institution therefore turned over this aspect of the problem to Re-
search Corporation of New York, continuing its own fundamental scien-
tific, studies on photosynthesis. Research Corporation contracted with
Stanford Research Institute in September 1948 for an engineering study
of the factors involved in the design of a pilot plant.
The small culture unit that was constructed and operated at Stanford
showed that continuous culture of Chlorella was possible; but the results
were not conclusive enough for Research Corporation to feel justified in
financing further experimentation. The work at Stanford Research Insti-
tute was therefore terminated in the spring of 1950.
During the latter part of 1950 the American Research and Develop-
ment Corporation in Boston^ Massachusetts, became interested in the
subject of algal culture and made a careful review of the economic as-
pects of the subject on the basis of the experiments at Stanford Research
Institute. This review showed clearly that there was still much uncer-
tainty as to whether large-scale culture was economically feasible.
iii
iv FOREWORD
It was generally agreed at that time that further work of a fundamental
sort was needed, and that it was especially desirable to discover whether
any new problems would be introduced by a large increase in the size of a
culture unit. It was essential also to obtain larger quantities of the alga
than had so far been available, so that its potential usefulness could be
evaluated. In order to accomplish these purposes, the Carnegie Corpora-
tion of New York joined with the Institution in making funds available for
Arthur D. Little, Inc., a consulting research and development organiza-
tion in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to set up a pilot plant for the culture
of Chlorella.
The staff of the Department of Plant Biology turned its attention to the
problem of the factors that affect the rate of growth of Chlorella as one
aspect of its program of fundamental research on photosynthesis. The
Institution also sponsored laboratory investigations of algal culture at the
University of Texas by Dr. Jack Myers, who spent the summer of 1951 as
a visiting investigator at the Department of Plant Biology. The Institution
also, in July 1951, granted a fellowship to Dr. Robert W. Krauss, of the
University of Maryland, extending him support for his fundamental re-
search on algal nutrition. In addition to this research, Dr. Krauss is
collaborating with the Institution in culturing a variety of different algae.
By no means all the problems involved in algal culture have been
solved; but partial answers to the principal questions have been obtained.
The alga Chlorella has been grown and harvested continuously on a large
scale; it has nutritive value in animal feeding; possibly it or one of the
other algae contains useful chemical raw materials; and estimates have
been made as to possible yields of Chlorella in commercial quantities,
based on the best data at present available.
At this stage of our program it is desirable to publish a fairly com-
plete account of the work to date, so that our accumulated experience may
be conveniently available. Such an account should be an aid to all the
workers in the field and especially should help any organizations that may
be interested in setting up pilot plants for the culture of algae.
Most of the present monograph is made up of reports of investigations
under the auspices of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. We are
privileged, however, to include also accounts of some parallel investi-
gations in other countries. It is hoped that, as a progress report of a
rapidly developing field of science and engineering, this book will serve
to stimulate even more interest in the subject, and will result in increased
progress toward the large-scale culture of algae.
The manuscripts of the chapters originally planned for this monograph
were received during the first quarter of 1952. The first chapter, which
summarizes them, was also written at that time. Later that year the Car-
negie Institution had the privilege of having Professor H. Tamiya as a guest
worker at its Department of Plant Biology, through a fellowship supported
by the Office of Naval Research of the United States Government. Profes-
sor Tamiya has prepared an account of studies of the growth of algae in
mass culture that he and his colleagues had performed at the Tokugawa
FOREWORD v
Institute for Biological Research, Tokyo. A delay in the publication of the
monograph made it possible to include this new material, which is present-
ed as chapters 16 and 18. It was not possible, however, to incorporate a
discussion of it in the summary. Furthermore, it was not feasible to ask
the other authors to revise their respective chapters so as to include more
recent results.
Active participation by other groups is essential for the ultimate suc-
cess of the development of algal culture. The Carnegie Institution has felt
that it had an obligation to lead the way in exploring the new field, for a
discovery of great potential importance to humanity had been made through
the fundamental research in one of its laboratories, and this discovery
might have remained unused for many years unless further action was
taken. Indeed, exactly this had happened much earlier in the case of
hybrid corn. The basic knowledge concerning hybrid corn was published
by George H. Shull, of the Institution's Department of Experimental
Evolution, in 1909, but almost ten years went by before any effort was
made to apply that knowledge for the benefit of man.
Rather than let the development of algal culture proceed by chance, the
Institution has been actively carrying it on to the point where enough in-
formation is at hand to assess it fairly. At this stage we are not able to
recommend any particular type of installation or to state positively the
economic possibilities of this method of producing foodstuffs. The ramifi-
cations of the subject are so wide that we cannot yet be sure what form the
future development may take.
The need of the world for additional sources of high-protein food is so
great, especially in overpopulated areas, that serious effort in tracking
down every promising lead is certainly warranted. Such great advances
in technology have already come from the coupling of engineering with
biology that it seems inevitable that the production of food, at least in
certain areas, will eventually be carried out by "process" industries.
The large-scale culture of algae may well become the first of them. In
regions of the world where population is especially dense, and fertile land
is limited, it is entirely possible that process-industry methods of pro-
ducing food may furnish a respite from the threat of famine and so con-
tribute toward more salutary conditions for civilized living. If algal cul-
ture can serve such a purpose, it is well worth development for that rea-
son alone.
It is hoped that such a development may take the form ultimately of a
multitude of individually owned, relatively small establishments, combin-
ing the culture of algae perhaps with utilization of the product for animal
feeding on the spot. The new industry that would result would thus enter
into our economic life in such a manner as not to produce disruption, but
rather to strengthen individual enterprise.
Whatever form an algal culture industry takes eventually, the programs
for its commercial development may need patent protection in order that
venture capital may be secured for necessary risks. The Institution rec-
ognizes that it has an obligation to protect the public interest in a matter
vi FOREWORD
of this sort. Accordingly, it has obtained assignments of a number of
patent applications dealing with the culture of algae. If the development
reaches the stage where one of these patented processes is needed, it will
be made available as broadly as is consistent with the optimum public
benefit and on a reasonable basis. Any income received by the Institution
from this source will be used either in support of further investigation for
the improvement of the process, or in connection with its regular program
of basic research.
V. Bush
CONTENTS
page
Foreword iii
V. Bush
Part I. Introduction and Summary
chapter
1. Current Status of the Large-Scale Culture of Algae 3
John S. Burlew
2. The Need for a New Source of Food 24
H. A. Spoehr
Part II. Conditions for Growth of Algae
3. The Biology of the Algae: A Brief Summary 31
Jack Myers
4. Growth Characteristics of Algae in Relation to the Problems of
Mass Culture 37
Jack Myers
5. The Efficiency of Light-Energy Conversion in Chlorella Cultures
as Compared with Higher Plants 55
E. C. Wassink, B. Kok, and J. L. P. van Oorschot
6. Experiments on Photosynthesis by Chlorella in Flashing Light 63
Bessel Kok
7. Effect of Diurnally Intermittent Illumination on the Growth and
Some Cellular Characteristics of Chlorella * 76
H. Tamiya, K. Shibata, T. Sasa, T. Iwamura,
and Y. Morimura
8. Inorganic Nutrition of Algae -.. 85
Robert W. Krauss
Part III. Growth of Algae in Mass Culture
9. Laboratory Experiments on Chlorella Culture at the Carnegie
Institution of Washington Department of Plant Biology 105
E. A. Davis, Jean Dedrick, C. S. French, H. W. Milner,
Jack Myers, J. H. C. Smith, and H. A. Spoehr
vii
viii CONTENTS
cnapter P^ge
10. Stoffproduktion durch Griinalgen und Diatomeen in Massenkultur .. 154
H. von Witsch and R. Harder
(English summary by H. A. Spoehr)
11. Nonsterile Large-Scale Culture of Chlorella in Greenhouse and
Open Air 166
F. Gummert, M.-E. Meffert, and H. Stratmann
12. The Accumulation of Lipides by Algae 177
G. E. Fogg and Dorothy M. Collyer
13. Experiments with Chlorella at Jealott's Hill 182
M. J. Geoghegan
14. Cultivation of Complexes of Algae with Other Fresh-Water
Microorganisms in the Tropics 190
Jorgen Jorgensen and Jacinto Convit
15. Experiments on Culture of Algae in Israel 197
M. Evenari, A. M. Mayer, and E. Gottesman
16. Kinetics of Growth of Chlorella, with Special Reference to Its
Dependence on Quantity of Available Light and on Temperature. 204
H. Tamiya, E. Hase, K. Shibata, A. Mituya, T. Iwamura,
T. Nihei, and T. Sasa
Part IV. Pilot-Plant Experiments
17. Pilot-Plant Studies in the Production of Chlorella 235
Based on Report by Arthur D. Little, Inc.
18. Pre-Pilot-Plant Experiments on Algal Mass Culture 273
A. Mituya, T. Nyunoya, and H. Tamiya
Part V. Possible Uses of Microscopic Algae
19. The Chemical Composition of Algae 285
Harold W. Milner
20. Nutritional Value of Microscopic Algae 303
A. W. Fisher, Jr., and John S. Bur lew
21. Microscopic Algae as Industrial Raw Materials 311
A. W. Fisher, Jr.
CONTENTS ix
chapter page
22. Growth and Evaluation of Species of Algae with Regard to Sterol
Content 316
Robert W. Krauss and William J. McAleer
Bibliography
A. Selected Bibliography on Mass Culture of Chlorella and
Immediately Related Subjects 329
B. Additional References Cited in Text 339
Index 349