Integrating Economic Sustainability
in P2P Microalgae Technology Development
2
- A Panel Presentation at BIO World 2016 Conference, San Diego
Weixing Tan, PhD
P2P Principal Investigator/Manager
[email protected]
Grande Prairie Regional College, Canada
Introduction to P2P R&D Initiative
• P2P – Pollutants-to-Products
o A R&D initiative at Grande Prairie Regional College, Alberta,
Canada funded ($3.5M) by governments (NSERC) & companies
(oil & gas, forestry, environmental and engineering)
• Mission
o Developing sustainable technologies through innovative
research to convert waste/pollutants to valuable products
• On-going projects
1.
2.
3.
4.
P2P Microalgae Technology (11 years; current key focus)
Separation of Suspended Particles
Reclamation of Oilsands Wetlands by Winter Planting
Waste Water to Industrial Hybrid Poplar Fibre
Chasing Values over Entire P2P System (I)
• Goal – economically viable PBR system for commercialization
1. Highly productive at low cost – 100 g/m2/day
2. Sunlight use optimized – with hybrid florescence light
3. Reliable & long-lasting – 600 m glass tubes/m2 for 15 yrs
4. Simple & easy to clean and maintain
5. Scalable
6. Fully automatable – sun tracking, harvesting & drying,
water recycling, nutrient recharging, cleaning…
7. Ready for pre-commercialization
(On & 3 days
after inoculation)
Chasing Values over Entire P2P System (II)
• Confirmed productivity
• Equivalent to 300 ton/ha/yr or 100 g/m2/day at 80%
operation
• 600 mg/L/day
• Chlorella vulgaris on 20 & 61 L prototypes
• CPEX (capital expenditure)
• CAN$4.3/L or $15M/ha growing area or $1M/ha/yr (15
yrs life span)
• Including the entire system, such as greenhouse
• Based on best available current prices; after scale-up?
• Capital productivity (ratio of output to capital input)
• 300 ton/yr/M$CPEX
(On & 3 days
after inoculation)
Key Unique Competitive Features of P2P System
1. ↑ sunlight use by spatial dilution – PATENTED or
2.
3.
PENDING in CA, US, EU, AU, CN & IN (PCT/CA2014/050450); by
orienting growing surface in parallel to sun, ↓ intensity &
mutual shading on two opposite surfaces on a panel
↑ optimum growing medium – PUBLISHED (2016
Algal Research 16:119-26) through proton-(or pH-) &
nutrient-balances
↑ recycle of water & nutrients – PREPARING FOR
PUBLICATION
↓ harvesting & drying cost – PATENT PENDING
4.
5. ↓ sheering stress & energy use – NO water pumps
in growing subsystems
Advantages of Spatial Sunlight Dilution
•
Low light saturation point for microalgae – mostly below 200
µmol/m2/s, <5-10% of full sunlight
•
Photosaturation and photoinhibition under sunlight – waste of 50-90%
of sunlight energy in field, equivalent up to 65-70 g/m2/day loss
•
Spatial Sunlight Dilution allows use of all available sunlight without
blocking/shading and thus increases areal productivity by:
1. Distributing a diluted and desirable fraction of sunlight to more compacted
PBR surface areas
2. Diminishing mutual shading on opposite PBR surfaces
3. Significantly reducing
photosaturation and photoinhibition
Advantages of a pH- &
Nutrient-Balanced Growing
Medium
•
Stable pH during culture – ↑ productivity,
↓ operation cost from stability
•
Elimination or reduction of pH control –
↓ capital and operation costs
•
Reduced waste of nutrients for optimum
growth – ↓ operation cost & ↑ environmental
performance
(Tan and Adebusuyi, 2016, Algal Research 16:119-26)
Integration of Economics in P2P Development
•
•
A simplified analytical model in guiding our decision
Three key separate parameters
1.
↑ Capital Productivity (Pc, ton/yr/M$CPEX) – far more useful
than biological productivity for your bottom line
2. ↓ OPEX (Ot, $/ton) – critical since it recurs every year (e.g.
automation)
3. ↑ Value (price) Chains (Vt, $/ton)
• Annual ‘nominal net income’ (In, $/yr/M$CPEX):
•
•
In = (Vt – Ot) × Pc
∆In is the ultimate criteria for go or no go decision
Useful exercise in deciding use of glass tubes and
florescence lights in our system development
P2P Forward Plan
•
•
450 L prototype – Being built in solarium lab
30,000 L pre-commercial pilot – designing
& planning to be co-located beside a biomass
power plant
•
•
Searching for more investors and
funders
More research on water recycling, system
health management and full automation
•
Out-sourcing and tendering supplies –
chasing the bottom line internationally
Summary of P2P Microalgae Technology
1. Developed over 11 years
•
Highly productive, optimised sunlight use, simple, reliable, longlasting, easy to clean and maintain, scalable, & fully automatable
2. IP protected unique competitive features
•
↑ sunlight use, ↑ optimum growing medium, ↑ recycle of water
& nutrients, ↓ harvesting & drying cost, and ↓ sheering stress &
energy use
3. Having been & being continued to be economized
•
↑ Capital Productivity, ↓ OPEX & ↑ Value (price) Chains
Ready to build a pre-commercial pilot – 30,000 L co-located
4.
5. Welcoming and searching for more investors and partners
Thanks!
Weixing Tan, PhD
[email protected]