Hydrocarbon production in high density Botryococcus braunii race B continuous culture

Waqas Khatri, Robert Hendrix, Tom Niehaus, Joe Chappell, Wayne R. Curtis

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

43 Scopus citations

Abstract

Continuous cultures of Botryococcus braunii race B were maintained at photosynthetic cell densities as high as 20g dry weight per liter for up to 3 months. Growth associated triterpene hydrocarbon accumulation was nearly constant at 22.5% of dry weight for a range of growth rates maintained by daily replacement of 5-15% of the respective cultures. The ability to achieve high cell concentrations and oil levels of roughly 5g triterpene oil/L resulted from a combination of high light (~ 1/4 full sun for 15h/day) and replenishing stoichiometrically balanced growth medium. Due to light-limited growth conditions, cell concentration dropped nearly linearly with increased dilution rate. This reduction in cell number resulted in increased productivity per cell at higher dilution rates and was accompanied by a dramatic increase in algae colony size from 0.09 to 0.343mm at high dilution rate. This change in colony size resulted in an equally dramatic change in optical density (OD) per gram dry weight, which precluded use of simple correlations of OD and cell concentration. A trickle-film photobioreactor was also demonstrated as a scalable approach to achieving these ultra-high cell concentrations. Additional media analysis revealed a steady increase in photobioreactor conductivity suggesting an accumulation of ions may be the reason for rapid culture crash and washout observed at all dilution rates after several months of continuous operation. The volumetric productivity of 22.5mg oil/L/photo-h reported here is more than an order of magnitude higher than previous reports for B. braunii race B, reflecting the high cell densities used in this work and substantiating a higher metabolic rate for B. braunii race B than previously surmised from its relatively long doubling times.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)493-503
Number of pages11
JournalBiotechnology and Bioengineering
Volume111
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2014

Keywords

  • Algae
  • Biofuel
  • Culture stability
  • Light limitation
  • Photobioreactor

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biotechnology
  • Bioengineering
  • Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

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