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Encyclopedia > Biological hydrogen production (Algae)
An Algae farm.
An Algae farm.

Biological hydrogen production is done in a bioreactor based on the production of hydrogen by algae. Algae produce hydrogen under certain conditions. In the late 1990s it was discovered that if algae are deprived of sulfur they will switch from the production of oxygen, as in normal photosynthesis, to the production of hydrogen. Image File history File links Chlorella. ... Image File history File links Chlorella. ... A bioreactor may refer to any device or system that supports a biologically active environment. ... Hydrogen production is done in bulk today from hydrocarbon fossil fuels via a chemical path. ... A seaweed (Laurencia) up close: the branches are multicellular and only about 1 mm thick. ... A seaweed (Laurencia) up close: the branches are multicellular and only about 1 mm thick. ... General Name, Symbol, Number sulfur, S, 16 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 16, 3, p Appearance lemon yellow Standard atomic weight 32. ... General Name, Symbol, Number oxygen, O, 8 Chemical series nonmetals, chalcogens Group, Period, Block 16, 2, p Appearance colorless (gas) very pale blue (liquid) Standard atomic weight 15. ... The leaf is the primary site of photosynthesis in plants. ...

Contents

Bioreactor design issues

  • Restriction of photosynthetic hydrogen production by accumulation of a proton gradient.
  • Competitive inhibition of photosynthetic hydrogen production by carbon dioxide.
  • Requirement for bicarbonate binding at photosystem II (PSII) for efficient photosynthetic activity.
  • Competitive drainage of electrons by oxygen in algal hydrogen production.
  • Economic feasibility-The energy efficiency - the conversion of sunlight into hydrogen - has to reach 7-10 percent (alga in its natural form achieves at most a meager 0.1 percent).

Attempts are in progress to solve these problems via bioengineering. An ion gradient is a concentration gradient of ions, it can be called an electrochemical potential gradient of ions across membranes. ... In the process of photosynthesis, light is absorbed by a photosystem (ancient Greek: phos = light and systema = assembly) to begin an energy-producing reaction. ... Biological engineering (also biosystems engineering and bioengineering) is a broad-based engineering discipline that deals with bio-molecular and molecular processes, product design, sustainability and analysis of biological systems. ...


Milestones

2006 - Researchers from the University of Bielefeld and the University of Queensland have genetically changed the single-cell green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii in such a way that it produces an especially large amount of hydrogen.[1] The Stm6 can, in the long run, produce five times the volume made by the wild form of alga and up to 1.6-2.0 percent energy efficiency. For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... Bielefeld University (German: Universität Bielefeld) is a university in Bielefeld, Germany. ... The University of Queensland (UQ) is the longest-established university in the state of Queensland, Australia, and a member of Australias Group of Eight. ... Binomial name Chlamydomonas reinhardtii P.A.Dang. ...


2006 - Unpublished work from the University of California at Berkeley-(The program is done by Midwest Research Institute, the operating contractor for NREL)- may have brought the technology past the economically viable 10 percent efficiency level. By shortening the chlorophyll stacks in the photosynthetic organelles, Anastasios Melis has "probably" passed the threshold.[2] [3] For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... Berkeley Davis Irvine Los Angeles Merced San Diego Santa Barbara Santa Cruz UC Office of the President in Oakland The University of California (UC) is a public university system in the state of California. ... Sather tower (the Campanile) looking out over the San Francisco Bay and Mount Tamalpais. ... Midwest Research Institute (MRI) is an independent, not-for-profit, contract research organization based in Kansas City, MO. MRI was established in Kansas City in 1944 to provide research and development for industry. ... The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), located in Golden, Colorado, as part of the U.S. Department of Energy, is the United Statess primary laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. ... Category: ...


Research

2006 - At the University of Karlsruhe, a prototype of a bio-reactor containing 500-1,000 litres of algae cultures is being developed. The reactor is to be used to prove the economic feasibility of the system in the next five years. For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... The Universität Karlsruhe (TH) is a mainly technical university in the city of Karlsruhe, Germany and is a leading research university: It is among the five universities in Germany with the strongest effort in research. ...


Economics

An algae farm the size of the state of Texas would produce enough hydrogen to supply the energy needs of the whole world. About 25,000 square kilometres would be sufficient to displace gasoline use in the US; this is less than a tenth of the area devoted to growing soya in the US. [4].


History

In 1939 a German researcher named Hans Gaffron, while working at the University of Chicago, observed that the algae he was studying, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (a green-algae), would sometimes switch from the production of oxygen to the production of hydrogen.[5] Gaffron never discovered the cause for this change and for many years other scientists failed in their attempts at its discovery. In the late 1990s professor Anastasios Melis a researcher at the University of California at Berkeley discovered that if the algae culture medium is deprived of sulfur it will switch from the production of oxygen (normal photosynthesis), to the production of hydrogen. He found that the enzyme responsible for this reaction is hydrogenase, but that the hydrogenase lost this function in the presence of oxygen. Melis found that depleting the amount of sulfur available to the algae interrupted its internal oxygen flow, allowing the hydrogenase an environment in which it can react, causing the algae to produce hydrogen. [6] Chlamydomonas moeweesi is also a good strain for the production of hydrogen. Binomial name Chlamydomonas reinhardtii P.A.Dang. ... Category: ... Ribbon diagram of the enzyme TIM, surrounded by the space-filling model of the protein. ... A hydrogenase is an enzyme that catalyses the reversible oxidation of molecular hydrogen (H2). ...


See also

Hydrogen production is done in bulk today from hydrocarbon fossil fuels via a chemical path. ... Photohydrogen is hydrogen produced with the help of artificial or natural light. ... General Name, Symbol, Number hydrogen, H, 1 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 1, 1, s Appearance colorless Atomic mass 1. ... An open pond Spirulina farm Algaculture is a form of aquaculture involving the farming of species of algae. ... A seaweed (Laurencia) up close: the branches are multicellular and only about 1 mm thick. ...

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