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.com
Volume 7
Journal of Material Sciences & Engineering
Biopolymers Summit 2018
June 04-06, 2018
June 04-06, 2018 Osaka, Japan
7
th
World Congress on
Biopolymers and Polymer Chemistry
Cultivation and utilization of cyanobacterial exopolysaccharide for production of bio-based polymers
Ryan W Davis
1
, E Monroe
1
, E Sundstrom
2
, R Mancenelli
3
and D Smernoff
3
1
Sandia National Laboratories, USA
2
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, USA
3
HelioBioSys, Inc., USA
D
evelopment of poly-cultures has been identified as a potential means for overcoming several challenges facing scale-up of
algae-based commodities which can displace petroleum but do not compete with food production. In this presentation,
we describe findings from our recent studies on cultivation of a marine cyanobacterial consortium in open algae raceways and
downstream conversion to bio-plastic. In the consortium, three distinct cyanobacterial cultivars were combined to provide
nitrogen fixation, photo-protection and high rates of secretion of extracellular polysaccharides in support of a long-term bio-
product ‘milking’ strategy. Following lab-scale investigations of various combinations of the individual cultivars to identify
optimal algae raceway inoculation and maintenance strategies, the best performing consortia were successfully cultivated in
pilot-scale algae raceways for >120 days. The growth trials indicated bioproduct concentrations >2 g/L consisting primarily
of a variety of C
5
and C
6
monosugars which were recovered using a low-cost semi-continuous harvesting strategy. In addition
to the remarkable stability of the consortium in open cultivation, measurements of culture density time course indicated
insignificantly different log-phase specific growth rates at different levels of nitrate or carbon dioxide addition, which should
have significant techno-economic and sustainability impacts for commercialization. Following recovery of the biomass and
exopolymer, generation of cyanobacterial-derived bioplastic was demonstrated and performance characteristics were found
to be similar to common biobased plastics, such as PLA. Initial techno-economic analysis based on the product yield and
corresponding biomass production, harvesting and conversion costs indicate an N
th
-plant model finished product cost of $
600/ton.
Biography
Ryan W Davis is the Principal Member of Technical Staff at Sandia National Laboratories. His research has focused on science and technology for production of
bio-based commodities from renewable feedstocks using non-arable land and non-freshwater resources. He has obtained his PhD in Physical Chemistry from the
University of New Mexico and completed Post-doctoral studies at Sandia Laboratories in New Mexico and California. He has published more than 25 articles in
peer-reviewed journals and is Director of the Sandia Algae Raceway Testbed Facility.
rwdavis@sandia.govRyan W Davis et al., J Material Sci Eng 2018, Volume 7
DOI: 10.4172/2169-0022-C7-110