as you know, algae has a lot of advantages in bio-fuel but i'm searching about new applications of algae in produce electricity. i'm not searching about how it can work, instead i want to know that is it possible to make electricity directly from algae or not?
Dear Rahman,
Producing electricity thanks to seaweed, this is one of the most astonishing projects out of the fertile imagination of engineers! Ecological constraints lead many research laboratories to develop energy production systems from non-polluting renewable sources. We already know how to take advantage of solar cells, wind power, or biomass in the form of methane or biofuels. But now here is an ingenious system combining biomass and a diesel engine to make electricity cheaply. This amazing machine, invented by a British researcher, Paul Jenkins, from Bristol University already works and produces 25 kilowatts of electricity. The process consists of transforming solar energy into electricity by using two key intermediates: algae and an engine. Algae are chlorella, a very common microscopic green plant. They live and grow in a clear container called Biocoil filled with a nutrient. Thanks to photosynthesis, they transform sunlight into plant biomass. Part of this mass is taken continuously, filtered, dried, and then converted into a very fine powder injected under pressure in a diesel engine. It behaves like fuel and burns with high efficiency. The engine runs a generator and produces electricity. The carbon dioxide resulting from the combustion is recycled in the reactor where it is transformed into biomass by photosynthesis. As for the heat released it is used to dry the algae. Result: no pollution and a cost of production of Kw similar to that of a coal or oil fired power station. A London-based company, Biotechna brought together a dozen industrial partners to build a 600-kilowatt pilot plant. The future of solar electricity also comes with amazing little green algae.
Regards
Bachir ACHOUR
yes there are some project utilizing the excess light energy of microalgae to electricity and for now the efficiency is low you can have a look to the paper below:
Evaluation of algal biofilms on Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) for use in biophotovoltaic platforms based on photosynthetic performance
Engineers generate electricity by tapping into algae cells -- ScienceDaily
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100413121336.htm
Yes you can . Read more on the following link
https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/harnessing-the-power-of-algae-new-greener-fuel-cells-move-step-closer-to-reality
Algae is used as a important ingredient in different food products.
No. And you might be searching for the same answer. But of course yes we can produce electricity using microalgae if we could able to cultivate microalgae in wastewater with high concentration and by devising microalgae solubilisation technique in co-digestion approach.
Mechanism of Generating Electricity Using Algae Biomass ( http://engineering.electrical-equipment.org/others/use-of-algae-in-electricity-generation.html )
Yes! Please see the following references.
Article Bioelectricity Production from Microalgae-Microbial Fuel Cel...
Article Self-sustainable electricity production from algae grown in ...
Article Enhanced electricity generation by using algae biomass and a...
Some micro algae biomass can be used for production of boioelectricy in limited extension.
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