Due to significant lipid and carbohydrate production as well as other useful properties such as high production of useful biomolecular substrates (e.g., lipids) and the ability to grow using non-potable water sources, algae are being explored as a potential high-yield feedstock for biofuels production. In both natural and engineered systems, algae can be exposed to a variety of environmental conditions that affect growth rate and cellular composition. With respect to the latter, the amount of carbon fixed in lipids and carbohydrates (e.g., starch) is highly influenced by environmental factors and nutrient availability. Understanding synergistic interactions between multiple environmental variables and nutritional factors is required to develop sustainable high productivity bioalgae systems, which are essential for commercial biofuel production. This article reviews the effects of environmental factors (i.e., temperature, light and pH) and nutrient availability (e.g., carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and trace metals) as well as cross-interactions on the biochemical composition of algae with a special focus on carbon fixation and partitioning of carbon from a biofuels perspective.

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Effects of Environmental Factors and Nutrient Availability on the Biochemical Composition of Algae for Biofuels Production: A Review

Co-pyrolysis of biomass and waste plastics as a thermochemical conversion technology for high-grade biofuel production: Recent progress and future directions elsewhere worldwide

The continuing use of fossil fuels accelerated the energy crisis, environmental pollution, and global warming in recent years. These problems are the driving force of the worldwide search for new alternative energy, among which biomass is considered to be one of the most promising candidates due to its renewable, carbon neutral and high productivity characteristics. Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) is an alternative technology of exploiting different types of biomass for fuels production, involving the direct biomass conversion to liquid, in the presence of a solvent and in some times catalyst. HTL has undergone a sudden increase in the number of publications in recent years. The wide variation in different types of feedstock tested, their initial state, the reaction conditions and/or the catalysts applied renders a wide but rather fragmentary spectrum of knowledge generated. This review is a summary of state-of-the-art knowledge of HTL for various feedstocks such as woody biomass, wastes, plastics and microalgae.

Hydrothermal liquefaction of various biomass and waste feedstocks for biocrude production: a state of the art review.

Catalytic co-pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass with polymers: a critical review

Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) has recently received increasing attention due to its advantages in rapid reaction, using wet feedstocks with no lipid-content restriction. These characteristics make HTL especially suitable for conversion of algae into biocrude oil. This paper aims to provide a state-of-the-art review of HTL technologies from a perspective of algal biorefinery. In this review, we first summarize the updated researches and technologies of algae HTL. Specially, an “ Environmental-Enhancing Energy ” (E2E) paradigm based on algal biorefinery has been proposed and discussed. Second, the principles and crucial factors for algae HTL are discussed with focus on (1) algae species and characteristics including lipids, proteins and carbohydrates; (2) the operational parameters including total solids, holding temperature, retention time and catalysts; and (3) the critical principles of HTL reaction and the role of deoxygenation and denitrogenation. In addition, potential applications of HTL are discussed. Prospective and challenges of HTL for algal biorefinery are finally addressed including feedstock preparation, scale-up of algae HTL, and process integration.

Hydrothermal liquefaction for algal biorefinery: A critical review

Co-liquefaction of micro- and macroalgae in subcritical water

Co-pyrolysis of microalgae and waste rubber tire in supercritical ethanol

Thermo-chemical conversion of Chlorella pyrenoidosa to liquid biofuels.

Formic acid, as an excellent hydrogen-storage material, has recently become increasingly important. Previous conversion of biomass into formic acid suffers from problems of strict operation conditions such as the use of a high concentration of H2O2 oxidant and alkali at higher temperatures or the precious metal catalysts. Here, a straightforward photocatalytic method to selectively convert glucose into formate is first reported. Using a nano TiO2 catalyst, we show that glucose can be efficiently converted into formic acid with a high yield of 35% at ambient condition with 0.03 M NaOH concentration, and the proposed method also worked on xylose for formate production. The conversion of glucose into formic acid is mainly attributed to the accelerated formation of active oxidative radicals (O2•–, •OH) in the presence of hydroxyl ions, and also, hydroxyl ions adjust the charge of the TiO2 surface and control the adsorption of glucose and the desorption of formic acid. These results open up a new approach towa...

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acssuschemeng.7b00364

Binbin Jin

Papers

Co-liquefaction of micro- and macroalgae in subcritical water

Co-pyrolysis of microalgae and waste rubber tire in supercritical ethanol

Thermo-chemical conversion of Chlorella pyrenoidosa to liquid biofuels.

Photocatalytic Oxidation of Glucose into Formate on Nano TiO2 Catalyst

Non-catalytic liquefaction of microalgae in sub-and supercritical acetone