TIBTEC 1590 No.

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Forum
Mixing Seawater with a uncommon and are limited by the vital need
for pretreatment or a lack of nutrients,
metals are also common in wastewater,
which could affect alga-based biodiesel
Little Wastewater to respectively (Box 1). However, the salinity properties [8]. For downstream produc-
Produce Bioenergy of seawater combined with a dash of
nutrients from wastewater offers important
tion and environmental safety, alga culti-
vation systems should contain low levels
from Limnetic Algae advantages that could be exploited to cre- of heavy metals, and pretreatment might
ate an efficient and economical system to be essential for wastewater containing
Haiyan Pei1,2,* and Liqun Jiang1
provide lipid for bioenergy along with bio- large amounts of heavy metals.
mass for other applications.
Microalgae are considered to be a
The ratio between seawater and waste-
promising feedstock for biofuel, Seawater to the Rescue water is also vitally important to yield the
but expansion of algal lipid pro- In an attempt to allow bulk populations of desired algal biomass. If the dose of
duction commercially still has a microalgae to thrive, we propose a cost- wastewater is too low, nutrients might
long way to go. Inexhaustible sea- effective approach that needs simply an be too scarce to maintain algal viability;
water, with a little wastewater influx of seawater into an existing alga if it is too high, microalgae can prioritize
added, has great potential to opti- production system, which can be called growth rather than lipid biosynthesis. A
mize microalga production so that a ‘microalga factory with seawater’ model can be employed to calculate the
biodiesel production can thrive (Figure 1). Due to the low nitrogen and optimal concentration of wastewater in
cost-effectively and sustainably. phosphorous content (usually less than seawater to produce lipids quickly and
0.01 mg/l inorganic nitrogen or phospho- economically. After determination of the
rus) in seawater, this proposal needs a algal strain and wastewater type, a series
Efforts Needed for Commercial little help from wastewater, which con- of trials would need to be performed to
Microalgal Biofuels tains these nutrients. Based on the simple determine the relationship between lipid
Microalgae, especially freshwater algal principle, the availability of just these two productivity and wastewater concentra-
species, offer an attractive way of satisfy- widely available materials can give this tion, which might be a simple first-order or
ing future sustainable energy demands. strategy a bright future. a quadratic relationship. Then, the more
Worldwide, researchers are searching for complex step is to calculate the most
technological advances to expand algal The first priority in operating this factory is appropriate wastewater dose and cultiva-
lipid production for commercial applica- to choose appropriate species that toler- tion period based on algal growth and
tions [1]. Recent reports suggest nitrogen ate, or even thrive in, the high salinity of operation cost. To achieve this goal,
depletion and high salinity are pivotal seawater. This screening process can some existing models can be borrowed,
potential strategies for enhancing lipid succeed, because some algae have been such as the one James and Boriah [9]
accumulation that can redirect carbon grown on non-arable land with brackish used to evaluate the impact of various
flow towards energy-storage compounds or saltwater under ‘salt stress’, including changes on alga production and the
[2]. Genetic tools are also involved in the some major species such as Dunaliella, one Gong and You [10] proposed to
construction of highly efficient pheno- Spirulina, and Haematococcus [7]. determine the most economical process
types for metabolic production, although design and operational conditions for the
so far these methods have not been The wastewater source and its concen- alga factory.
widely implemented due to the lack of a tration in the medium are other factors to
well-annotated genome and transforma- establish, considering the specific loca- The seawater factory can work only after
tion techniques and an unclear lipid bio- tion of the factory and the goal of maxi- these two elements are combined with
synthesis mechanism [3,4]. Other mizing algal biomass. The nitrogen and existing cultivation technology, which is
solutions may include developing waste- phosphorus content is a top priority in simple, accessible, cheap, and environ-
water-based alga cultivation [5], breeding considering the feasibility of a particular mentally friendly. Moreover, the system
new oleaginous species [6], or exploring wastewater source, as these nutrients are can be equipped with a recirculating
the use of seawater as a coolant or even vital for algal survival. Fortunately, almost medium technology that involves seawa-
the growth medium. Direct applications of all wastewater, whether industrial, munic- ter cycle use with simple filtration and a
wastewater or seawater into limnetic, or ipal, or agricultural, is characteristically little wastewater supplementation after
lake-based, algal systems are as yet high in N and/or P. However, heavy biomass harvest.

Trends in Biotechnology, Month Year, Vol. xx, No. yy 1

 TIBTEC 1590 No. of Pages 3

Box 1. Separate Applications of Wastewater or Seawater to Limnetic Microalgae

Use of seawater as the sole medium for limnetic microalga cultivation is not practical for obtaining high biomass productivity. The paramount reason is seawater’s
lack of nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus sources that are requisite for autotrophic growth of algae. The very high salt concentration leads to osmotic stress
and therefore multiple critical changes in limnetic algae, which can damage the photosystem and even cause cell death.

The application of wastewater in microalga production is limited by high concentrations of certain chemical compounds, heavy metals, or suspended solid particles,
which can all inhibit biological processes in algae [15]. These wastewaters may be subjected to dilution or mixing with growth stimulators; however, the pretreatment
would impose an additional cost on the ultimate biodiesel production.

Nearly sa sfied cells with Feeble cells struggling

rich lipid content in high with high levels of bacteria,
salinity, but low mul plica on heavy metals, suspended
due to starva on solid par cles, etc.

Seawater
Wastewate
r
High-level nutrients
Low-level heavy metals

No investment of Thriving cells with ideal

freshwater or characteris cs for lipid
hyperproduc on, easy extrac on
nutrients of oil, high cell-se ling efficiency,
and resistance to invasion

Algae adapted to seawater

Figure 1. Proposed Microalga Factory with Seawater for Ideal Microalga Production. Green circles represent algal cells, on which the yellow parts indicate
lipid droplets. Worm-like shapes represent bacteria in mono-wastewater cultivation. Seawater enhanced with a little wastewater is intended to produce limnetic algal
biomass, with some constrained properties for downstream biodiesel production and sustainable stability of the factory. The planned factory should be built near an
ocean and a well-characterized wastewater source containing high levels of nutrients and low levels of heavy metals; seawater can be reused repeatedly and
wastewater only supplemented, to reduce the burden of spent medium treatment. Algal species tolerating salinity in seawater are also essential elements of our
proposal.

Welfare Benefits
Freshwater algae from the factory that
we proposed – introducing seawater to
alga cultivation – can satisfy at least five
of the seven ideal properties specified by
Wijffels and Barbosa: large cells, simul-
taneous growth and lipid collection, easy
extraction of oil, cells forming flocs and
settling efficiently, and resistance to
infections from bacteria or other algal
species [11]. This factory would also help
to cut to investments in water and conditions, which provides the prospect
nutrients. of obtaining algal cells whose membranes
are easily broken for oil extraction.
Cell enlargement is a stress response in
microalgae that results from the arrest of Stress conditions are known to induce lipid
algal cell division under stress. These accumulation in algae [12]. Although nitro-
elongated cells were observed at high gen starvation and salt stress trigger the
NaCl or sea salt concentrations [7], so transition from carbon to energy storage,
may occur in our seawater factory. More- some reports have recently demonstrated
over, cell membranes can be damaged to that NaCl treatment is a more efficient way
some degree under high-salinity to induce algae to produce lipid than

2 Trends in Biotechnology, Month Year, Vol. xx, No. yy

 TIBTEC 1590 No. of Pages 3
nitrogen depletion [13]. After nutrients are
provided by wastewater, lipid hyperaccu-
mulation can still occur through salt stress
caused by seawater. Moreover, in some
algae under osmotic pressure, growth and
lipid storage occur simultaneously, result-
ing in high lipid productivity.
In theory, algae can form flocs more easily
in seawater than in a freshwater medium,
for three reasons. First, a large concen-
tration of cations leads to charge neutrali-
zation and/or sweep coagulation for algal
cells with negatively charged surfaces.
Second, stress induces the secretion of
extracellular polymeric substances facili-
tating floc formation [14]. Third, larger
cells improve the settling capacity of algae
under quiescent conditions.
For non-marine life, most species cannot
tolerate the high salinity of seawater,
which predicts limited invasion against
the desired algae. Mass cultivation of
microalgae often fails to maintain the
selected species for biomass production
due to contamination by invading organ-
isms; seawater provides a solution to this
problem by limiting competing algae and
inhibiting predator grazing on algae.
Regarding investment in cultivation infra-
structure, this type of factory can substi-
tute seawater for freshwater and obtain
nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewa-
ter, thereby avoiding costs for the main
inputs of water and nutrients. The eco-
nomic and water source benefits of the
proposed approach are beyond doubt.
Minor Limitations
The benefits of this factory are obvious: the
yield of algal biomass produced this way
would be of low cost in time and invest-
ment; the operation is scalable; and the
production is perfect for downstream proc-
essing. Therefore, the overall concept can
boost the commercial production of alga-
derived biodiesel. However, considering
seawater transportation costs, the
preferred location would be adjacent to
the ocean: it would be prohibitively expen-
sive to locate this factory beside an inland
population. Wastewater availability is
another concern for the potential location,
including wastewater type and nutrient
accessibility. Therefore, site selection for
the factory is constrained.
The suitability of available alga cultivation
methods for this system might also be a
limitation. If an open pond or raceway
were chosen, continuous evaporation
would lead to salt accumulation, which
increases the difficulty of growing algae
and would eventually result in failure to
sustainably operate this system. More-
over, an open system might lead to
increased contamination by other organ-
isms. Thus, the cultivation options for our
seawater factory are restricted to the use
of closed reactors for stable production of
biomass and ecological safety, which
might cost more than open devices.
For a new operation, a life-cycle and eco-
nomic assessment of the whole system
should be performed to evaluate and opti-
mize the economic and environmental
impacts.
Concluding Remarks
Growing microalgae from seawater and
wastewater could be attempted easily in
offshore areas using our ‘microalga factory
with seawater’ concept to produce desired
biomass for commercial biodiesel applica-
tions. The approach avoids the consump-
tion of freshwater, is cost-effective and
easy to implement, and does not contain
any insurmountable hurdles. With the
adoption and optimization of such a sys-
tem, microalgae could be grown success-
fully with ideal properties for biofuel
production, including simultaneous growth
and lipid production, easy extraction of oil,
high cell-settling efficiency, and resistance
to competitor or predator species.
Through the introduction of seawater as
the main medium and a splash of
wastewater to nourish the algae, the devel-
opment of this promising factory could also
contribute to preserving freshwater resour-
ces and recycling chemical nutrients in
wastewater.
1
School of Environmental Science and Engineering,
Shandong University, No. 27 Shanda Nan Road, Jinan
250100, China
2
Shandong Provincial Engineering Centre on
Environmental Science and Technology, No. 17923
Jingshi Road, Jinan 250061, China
*Correspondence: haiyanhup@126.com (H. Pei).
URLs: https://www.mendeley.com/profiles/haiyan-pei/,
http://www.hjcenter.sdu.edu.cn/.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tibtech.2017.12.002
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