MICROALGAE CULTIVATION USING

GEOTHERMAL GAS AT THE BLUE LAGOON

Hrönn Arnardóttir

M.Sc. Bioengineering

2

BLUE LAGOON NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC WONDER OF THE WORLD

Source: Wonders of the World: Earth’s most awesome places. National Geographic, (2012).

3

BLUE LAGOON ECOCYCLE

ALGAE CULTIVATION AT

THE BLUE LAGOON R&D CENTER

20 years experience of microalgae cultivation

– Blue Lagoon (BL) blue-green coccoid microalgae

– BL filamentous algae

Industrial scale production

– Tubular photobioreactor

Algae used for high-value products

– Blue Lagoon skin care line

Fig.1. BL coccoid algae.

Fig.2. BL filamentous algae.

TUBULAR PHOTOBIOREACTOR

Fig.4. Tubular photobioreactor diagram used for algae cultivation at the Blue Lagoon R&D Center.

GEOGAS RESOURCES

HS Orka geothermal power plant

– In near vicinity of the R&D Center

– 75 MW electrical energy

– Steam contains 1-2% geogas that is discarded

– 300 m gas pipe to R&D Center

Fig.5. Geothermal power plant diagram.

(Source: epa.gov).

Fig.6. HS Orka power plant. (Source: hsorka.is).

HS ORKA – BL R&D CENTER GAS PIPE

GAS PIPE

Fig.7. Aerial view of the gaspipe from HS Orka power plant to Blue Lagoon R&D Center.

GEOGAS OUTPUT

HS Orka annual output of geogas

– > 60.000 ton CO2

– > 700 ton H2S

Geogas consists of

– ~97% CO2

– ~2% H2S

– ~1% other (SO2, O2 etc.)

Very high percentage of CO2 in geogas –

suitable for algae cultivation

CO2

H2S

Other

GEOGAS - PILOT STUDIES

BL coccoid algae

– Indra et al. 2009* at BL R&D Center

– NS difference for commercial CO2 vs. geogas CO2

Fig.8. Growth of coccoid algae on pure CO2 vs. geogas CO2 (left) and a 100 L tubular photobioreactor (*Source: Indra et al. Proceedings, Thirty-Fourth Workshop on Geothermal Reservoir Engineering Stanford University,

Stanford, California, February 1-3, 2010)

ALGAE PRODUCTION ON GEOGAS

Geogas supplied directly from the

power plant

Industrial scale production of high

value products

Key ingredient in the Blue Lagoon

skin care line

BLUE LAGOON SKIN CARE

SUMMARY

Microalgae cultivation using geogas

– No significant difference in growing algae on geogas vs. commercial CO2

– Geogas is suitable for algae cultivation

Industrial scale production using geogas

– For high-value products

– Reduce carbon footprint

The Blue Lagoon micro algae has beneficial effects on the skin

– Prevention of skin ageing

– Research in vivo & in vitro

Ása Brynjólfsdóttir, director of R&D Halldór G. Svavarsson, R&D Specialist Hrönn Arnardóttir, R&D Specialist Halldís S. Thoroddsen, B.Sc. Hannes L. Jóhannesson, Research Assistant Haukur Andreasson, Research Assistant Sigrún Helgadóttir, Research Assistant

Alumni: Grzegorz Maliga, Ph.D. student Indra Suryata, M.Sc. Ólöf Kolbrún Hrafnsdóttir, M.Sc.

TEAM & COLLABORATORS