| NSF Org: |
OISE Office of International Science and Engineering |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | May 30, 2014 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | May 30, 2014 |
| Award Number: | 1414719 |
| Award Instrument: | Fellowship Award |
| Program Manager: |
Anne Emig
OISE Office of International Science and Engineering O/D Office Of The Director |
| Start Date: | June 1, 2014 |
| End Date: | May 31, 2015 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $5,070.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $5,070.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
Las Cruces NM US 88005-3360 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
Daejeon 305-701 KS |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): |
EAPSI, EPSCoR Co-Funding |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.079 |
ABSTRACT
Algal biofuels have been recognized as one of the preferred alternatives to fossil fuels. However, algal biofuels are not yet economically viable due to the high costs of cultivation and downstream processing to yield the finished product. One of the barriers in the algal biofuel pathway is the harvesting step. In this study, it is hypothesized that algal biofuel cultivation can be engineered to utilize DNA as a flocculant for energy-efficient harvesting of the biomass. During flocculation, the dispersed microalgal cells aggregate and form larger particles with higher sedimentation rate. The concept of utilizing DNA as a flocculant in micro algae must be verified and validated for variety of species. Initial experiments will be conducted to verify this hypothesis at Dr. Ji-Won Yang's laboratory at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in Daejeon, South Korea.
Current algal biofuels research is focusing on optimizing cultivation and downstream processing. Hardly any research is addressing the issue of biomass harvesting which remains a major challenge because it entails separating microalgae from a medium of nearly identical specific gravity. The validation that DNA-based flocculation could aid in harvesting of algal biomass and the quantitative data to be generated in the proposed study can advance knowledge and understanding as no previous studies have reported on it as a means to improve the harvesting step in the algal cultivation-to-biofuel process chain. This research is expected to contribute to efforts to demonstrate the practical feasibility of algal-based systems for energy production. This NSF EAPSI award is funded in collaboration with the National Research Foundation of Korea.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
Evaluation of exogenous DNA as a bio-flocculant agent
Felly Rose Montelya
NSF/NRF EAPSI Korea 2014 Summer Fellow
New Mexico State University, Dept. Civil Engineering
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
Background Information
Algal biofuels have been recognized as one of the preferred alternatives to fossil fuels. However, algal biofuels are not yet economically viable due to the high costs of cultivation and downstream processing to yield the finished product. One of the barriers in the algal biofuel pathway is the harvesting step. In this study, it is hypothesized that the cultivation process could be engineered to utilize DNA as a flocculant for energy-efficient harvesting of the biomass. The concept of utilizing DNA as a flocculant in microalgae is one that needs to be verified and validated for variety of species. Initial experiments will be conducted to verify this hypothesis at Dr. Ji-Won Yang’s laboratory at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in Daejeon, South Korea.
Current research at NMSU and elsewhere is focusing on optimizing cultivation and downstream processing, hardly any research is addressing the issue of biomass harvesting which remains a major challenge because it entails separating microalgae from a medium of nearly identical specific gravity. During flocculation, the dispersed microalgal cells aggregate and form larger particles with higher sedimentation rate. The validation that DNA-based flocculation could aid in harvesting of algal biomass and the quantitative data to be generated in the proposed study can advance the knowledge and understanding of the approach as no previous studies have reported on it as a means to improve the harvesting step in the algal cultivation-to-biofuel process chain. This research is expected to lead towards the next step of demonstrating the practical feasibility of algal-based systems for energy production. This NSF EAPSI award is funded in collaboration with the National Research Foundation of Korea.
Objectives
- Conduct bench scale tests to evaluate DNA-induced flocculation to improve the algal harvesting process.
- Evaluate a dual-stage cultivation system using Ettlia YC001 and evaluate lipid induction under nitrogen deprivation conditions and harvesting efficiency.
- Build a collaboration between my advisor, Prof. Nirmala Khandan of my home institution, New Mexico State University, and my host, Prof. Ji Won Yang of Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, which will lead to future projects, shared grants and more student exchange opportunities.
Results and Conclusions
Chlorella vulgaris settling study using 10ppm of DNA isolated from Ettlia sp. YC001. We hypothesized that DNA will be liberated preferentially by the most stressed cells in late stage, nutrient starved microalgae cultures. Changes in non-physiological pH of the system will create stress on the algae leading to preferential lysis of a subpopulation of algae in the culture that are the most stressed. The presence of DNA was predicted to cause flocculation in stressed algae cells. Ettlia sp. DNA was isolated and purified using a genomic DNA prep for algae protocol. The purified DNA was then added to a Chlorella culture at 10 ppm. Cultures were placed in spectrophotometer cuvettes and OD at 680nm was measured at various time points to study the sedimentation effect of DNA. However, results of Chlorella vulgaris sedimenta...
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