http://www.ns.umich.edu/htdocs/releases/story.php?id=7059
Mar. 24, 2009
Team Algal Scientific wins Clean Energy Prize
Click for video ANN ARBOR, Mich.— A plan to use algae to simultaneously treat wastewater and produce the raw materials for biofuels has won the inaugural Clean Energy Prize.
The competition was sponsored by DTE Energy, the University of Michigan, the Masco Corporation Foundation and the Kresge Foundation to encourage entrepreneurship in Michigan and the development of clean energy technology.
Team Algal Scientific Corp., comprised of business, engineering and ecology students from the University of Michigan and Michigan State University, earned the top prize of $65,000 at the competition Friday (March 20). Their business plan rose to the top in a field of 23 teams.
“We put a lot of effort in, and we had tough competition,” said team member Bobby Levine, a doctoral student in the U-M Department of Chemical Engineering. “I think we still have a lot of work to do, but we’re excited to plan the next phase.”
Gerard Anderson, DTE Energy president and chief operating officer, presented the awards and told team members and other attendees that the development of new energy technologies holds promise for a cleaner environment and a more robust economy.
“With this in mind, we developed the Clean Energy Prize to serve as a catalyst for students and faculty to bring clean energy technologies from university labs to the market,” he said. “We also see this prize as one of many steps toward recapturing Michigan’s past spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship.”
In Algal Scientific Corp.’s wastewater treatment system, algae would take up nutrients at wastewater treatment plants in a more economical and environmentally friendly way than the current state of the art. This method uses no chemicals. Then, the nutrient-packed algae would be harvested and sent to a plant to be converted directly to biofuels. Team members say they’re addressing two major global concerns: clean water and clean energy.
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Why use Green Algae?
Diatom Algae can do a better job and it need not be harvested, it can be allowed to be consumed by Zooplankton and Fish.
Green Algae has to be harvested and this would be quite expensive.
Showing posts with label Algae in Wastewater Treatment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Algae in Wastewater Treatment. Show all posts
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Algae to treat sewage
The concept of using Spirulina (Blue Green Algae) to treat sewage has been around for quite sometime.
Diatom Algae would be a better solution, since they are easier to dispose off.
http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=3825422640071574794
Algae alleviates
Date: 14/03/1996
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Source: Down to Earth
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TagsBiotechnology, Blue-Green Algae, Environmental Science, South Africa, Urban Sanitation
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HOUSING lower- and middle-class blacks, certain South African townships are seriously threatened by contamination caused by human wastes. With no sewage disposal system, the residents of these poor localities use buckets to excrete and once these are full to the brim, the waste is either dumped into streams or on the outskirts of the townships (ScientificAmericah, Vol 273, No'5).
The dumping of these wastes is proving to be a major threat to the environment, as not only are the streams affected by it but even groundwater sources lying just four metres below the surface are.being polluted. But help is on the way. Peter D Rose of the Rhodes, University in SouthAfrica is using an algae-based system to solve the crisis. A pilot plant constructed nearby will receive the waste emitted by 500-1,000 people, through a 1,00,000 ha area of ponds and channels filled with spirulina. The single-celled plant thriving on salty, nutrient-rich sewage offers solace to millions of helpless South. Ilicans. When exposed to sunlight, these plants seek higher dissolved oxygen levels and ingest most of the waste, and the remaining heavy metals and inorganic detritus settle at the bottom of the waterbodies.
Sewage processing by algae, an age-old method, is now being made more effective by advanced technologies. In the past 10 years researchers have concentrated on cultivating algal species which can do even bitter than the activated-sludge process practised by industrialised nations. The algal ponds do not require the equipment and power needed to run the conventional activated-sludge ponds. This reduces the building and operation costs by about a half. These plants do not consume much water, which is an important innovation for and South Africa. The resultant sludge produced is also lesser in quantity, making it easier to truck it down to landfill sites. Not only that, but most of the sludge is usually tonnes of dead algae, which once dried, makes good fertiliser and,fish-food additive. Another *advantage of algal ponds is that they do not stink, as the algae only produce a lot of oxygen and not other rotten smelling gases.
For Rose, the technology serves a dual purpose. It holds the potential for improving community sanitation and at a low cost, making it attractive to the needs of developing countries., "One of the future benefits of the process is that once you have this algal biomass, you might be able to engineer it to produce by-products that are more valuable than animal feeds," he says. His team recently studied another algae, Dunaliella salina, which when exposed to excessive salt or heat, produces large amounts of beta-carotene (a nutrient used by the body to make vitamin A).
Rose has also demonstrated the usefulness of the system in treating industrial waste, from tanneries. Tannery waste includes effluents like sulphides, ammonia and heavy metals, which not only give off bad odour but are also among the most dangerous pollutants to be emitted by any industry. Rose tried out the spirulina treatment on this waste, when he noticed that the plant flourished in a tannery's evaporation pond. The treatment systems tried out in Transvaal, Namibia and Cape Town tanneries show promise, as they have been successful in squelching odour and reclaiming water lost through evaporation. With the expected expansion in the tanning industry in South Africa, the algal-pond system is expected to be a major boon to the country.
Says Rose, "Rapid industrialisation in the Third World often happens at the expense of the environment, because the costs of First World technologies to remedy the situation cannot be borne simultaneously. To come up with a low- cost solution that results in something not just safe but useful - well, that is the first prize in biotechnology."
Diatom Algae would be a better solution, since they are easier to dispose off.
http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=3825422640071574794
Algae alleviates
Date: 14/03/1996
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Down to Earth
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TagsBiotechnology, Blue-Green Algae, Environmental Science, South Africa, Urban Sanitation
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOUSING lower- and middle-class blacks, certain South African townships are seriously threatened by contamination caused by human wastes. With no sewage disposal system, the residents of these poor localities use buckets to excrete and once these are full to the brim, the waste is either dumped into streams or on the outskirts of the townships (ScientificAmericah, Vol 273, No'5).
The dumping of these wastes is proving to be a major threat to the environment, as not only are the streams affected by it but even groundwater sources lying just four metres below the surface are.being polluted. But help is on the way. Peter D Rose of the Rhodes, University in SouthAfrica is using an algae-based system to solve the crisis. A pilot plant constructed nearby will receive the waste emitted by 500-1,000 people, through a 1,00,000 ha area of ponds and channels filled with spirulina. The single-celled plant thriving on salty, nutrient-rich sewage offers solace to millions of helpless South. Ilicans. When exposed to sunlight, these plants seek higher dissolved oxygen levels and ingest most of the waste, and the remaining heavy metals and inorganic detritus settle at the bottom of the waterbodies.
Sewage processing by algae, an age-old method, is now being made more effective by advanced technologies. In the past 10 years researchers have concentrated on cultivating algal species which can do even bitter than the activated-sludge process practised by industrialised nations. The algal ponds do not require the equipment and power needed to run the conventional activated-sludge ponds. This reduces the building and operation costs by about a half. These plants do not consume much water, which is an important innovation for and South Africa. The resultant sludge produced is also lesser in quantity, making it easier to truck it down to landfill sites. Not only that, but most of the sludge is usually tonnes of dead algae, which once dried, makes good fertiliser and,fish-food additive. Another *advantage of algal ponds is that they do not stink, as the algae only produce a lot of oxygen and not other rotten smelling gases.
For Rose, the technology serves a dual purpose. It holds the potential for improving community sanitation and at a low cost, making it attractive to the needs of developing countries., "One of the future benefits of the process is that once you have this algal biomass, you might be able to engineer it to produce by-products that are more valuable than animal feeds," he says. His team recently studied another algae, Dunaliella salina, which when exposed to excessive salt or heat, produces large amounts of beta-carotene (a nutrient used by the body to make vitamin A).
Rose has also demonstrated the usefulness of the system in treating industrial waste, from tanneries. Tannery waste includes effluents like sulphides, ammonia and heavy metals, which not only give off bad odour but are also among the most dangerous pollutants to be emitted by any industry. Rose tried out the spirulina treatment on this waste, when he noticed that the plant flourished in a tannery's evaporation pond. The treatment systems tried out in Transvaal, Namibia and Cape Town tanneries show promise, as they have been successful in squelching odour and reclaiming water lost through evaporation. With the expected expansion in the tanning industry in South Africa, the algal-pond system is expected to be a major boon to the country.
Says Rose, "Rapid industrialisation in the Third World often happens at the expense of the environment, because the costs of First World technologies to remedy the situation cannot be borne simultaneously. To come up with a low- cost solution that results in something not just safe but useful - well, that is the first prize in biotechnology."
Friday, November 28, 2008
Use of Algae in Wastewater Treatment
Another technology that uses Green Algae in Wastewater Treatment.
http://www.algaewheel.com/algaewheel-technology.cfm
ALGAEWHEEL TECHNOLOGY
Product Development History. In 1995 Mr. Christopher Limcaco, began development of the algaewheel® technology because of his passion for aquatic life. His mission was to develop a filtration system that would allow him to completely recreate a natural environment within his aquarium. The system that was developed proved tremendously effective in achieving a naturally balanced eco-environment and the aquatic life within the aquarium thrived. Mr. Limcaco patented the technology and developed the manufacturing and shipping processes for the commercial distribution of algaewheel treatment systems through a company called Aquatic Engineers, Inc. In 2003 this technology was licensed to a firm now known as Aquariums By Design, and this company continues to provide service for hobby applications in the marine and tropical fish industry.
How it WorksThe technology was initially developed for use as an aquatic life support system in mariculture and aquaculture systems. The advantage of the algaewheel is in its name; it provides the proper environment for algal growth. Wave surging and light pulsing are basic environmental conditions required for algae growth and these are provided through the patented design. The wheel is designed to be significantly buoyant in water, requires no mechanical drive mechanism, and is rotated using a constant air flow. Each wheel is supported in water using a modular plastic grid system. The wheel and all components are made of UV stabilized reprocessed plastics, are lightweight, modular, easily assembled in the field, and corrosion proof.
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Why use Green Algae when Diatoms can do a better job?
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