BIOFAT

BIOFAT is a microalgae to biofuel Demonstration project with a farming area of 10-ha for microalgae cultivation and a target annual productivity of 100 tons per ha. The project will integrate all the processes from single cell to biofuel production. The production stage will be based on photobioreactors for inocula production, and raceways for production of bulk biomass and induction of oil/starch accumulation, necessary to obtain the biofuel (biodiesel and bioethanol). Carbon dioxide derived from fermentation will be used.
Biomass harvesting will be done by pre-concentration and subsequent centrifugation. A low-energy input centrifuge will be used. Extraction will be done by mechanical cell disruption of wet (25-30% dry solids) paste. Oil will be transformed into biodiesel by transesterification, and carbohydrates to bioethanol through fermentation. Oil and carbohydrate accumulation will be obtained by nutrient stress using specific algal strains. Only marine strains will be used to avoid any...