Year-Round Cultivation of Tetraselmis sp. for Essential Lipid Production in a Semi-Open Raceway System |
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Authors: | Won-Kyu Lee Yong-Kyun Ryu Woon-Yong Choi Taeho Kim Areumi Park Yeon-Ji Lee Younsik Jeong Choul-Gyun Lee Do-Hyung Kang |
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Affiliation: | 1.Jeju Marine Research Center, Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST), Jeju Special Self-Governing Province 63349, Korea; (W.-K.L.); (Y.-K.R.); (W.-Y.C.); (T.K.); (A.P.); (Y.-J.L.); (Y.J.);2.Department of Ocean Science (Oceanography), KIOST School, University of Science and Technology (UST), Daejeon 34113, Korea;3.Department of Biological Engineering, Inha University, Incheon 22212, Korea; |
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Abstract: | There is increasing demand for essential fatty acids (EFAs) from non-fish sources such as microalgae, which are considered a renewable and sustainable biomass. The open raceway system (ORS) is an affordable system for microalgae biomass cultivation for industrial applications. However, seasonal variations in weather can affect biomass productivity and the quality of microalgal biomass. The aim of this study was to determine the feasibility of year-round Tetraselmis sp. cultivation in a semi-ORS in Korea for biomass and bioactive lipid production. To maximize biomass productivity of Tetraselmis sp., f medium was selected because it resulted in a significantly higher biomass productivity (1.64 ± 0.03 g/L) and lower omega-6/omega-3 ratio (0.52/1) under laboratory conditions than f/2 medium (0.70/1). Then, we used climatic data-based building information modeling technology to construct a pilot plant of six semi-ORSs for controlling culture conditions, each with a culture volume of 40,000 L. Over 1 year, there were no significant variations in monthly biomass productivity, fatty acid composition, or the omega-6/omega-3 ratio; however, the lipid content correlated significantly with photosynthetic photon flux density. During year-round cultivation from November 2014 to October 2017, areal productivity was gradually increased by increasing medium salinity and injecting CO2 gas into the culture medium. Productivity peaked at 44.01 g/m2/d in October 2017. Throughout the trials, there were no significant differences in average lipid content, which was 14.88 ± 1.26%, 14.73 ± 2.44%, 12.81 ± 2.82%, and 13.63 ± 3.42% in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017, respectively. Our results demonstrated that high biomass productivity and constant lipid content can be sustainably maintained under Korean climate conditions. |
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Keywords: | microalgae Tetraselmis sp. open raceway pond building information modeling Korea year-round production areal productivity lipid content polyunsaturated fatty acid |
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