Sustainable Downstream Processing of Microalgae for Industrial Application

Microalgae can be future resource for industrial biotechnology

In current energy crisis era, microalgae are under tremendous research focus for the production of biodiesel due to their high photosynthetic efficiency, growth rate and high lipid content compared to territorial plants. However, the large-scale production of algal biomass and downstream processing of harvested algae towards bio-fuels are facing several challenges from economic viability perspective. Apart from bio-fuels, the microalgae synthesize number of bio-molecules such as pigments (e.g., chlorophyll, carotenoid), protein (e.g., lectin, phycobiliprotein), and carbohydrates (e.g., agar, carrageenan, alginate, fucodian) which are available in the various forms of microalgal products. Therefore, developing a strategy for large-scale production and use of algal biomass for the co-production of these value-added macromolecules is thus imperative for the improvement of the economics of algal biorefinery.

In the above context, this book covers three major areas (i) commercial-scale production of bio-molecules from microalgae, (ii) sustainable approach for industrial-scale operation, and (iii) optimization of downstream processes. Each of these sections is composed of several chapters written by the renowned academicians/industry experts. Furthermore, in this book, a significant weightage is given to the industry experts (around 50%) to enrich the industrial perspectives.

We hope that amalgamate of fundamental knowledge from academicians and applied research information from industry experts will be useful for forthcoming implementation of a sustainable integrated microalgal biorefinery. This book highlights following.

• Explores biomolecules from microalgae and their applications
• Discusses microalgae cultivations and harvesting
• Examines downstream processing of biomolecules
• Explores sustainable integrated approaches for industrial scale operations
• Examines purification techniques specific for microalgal proteins, Omega 3 fatty Acids, carbohydrates, and pigments

Dr. Kalyan Gayen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Agartala, West Tripura, Tripura, Indiia. His specialties include Microalgae and Cyanobacteria based Biofuels and Bioproducts, Conversion of Lignocellulosic Biomass into Liquid Biofuels and Value added Chemicals, Metabolic Network Analysis, Systems Biology, Fermentation Technology. 

Dr. Tridib Kumar Bhowmick is the assistant professor at Department of Bioengineering at National Institute of Technology Agartala, Tripura, India. He had received his Ph. D degree from Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India, in 2009. During his PhD, he had worked on Indian traditional medicine. He was a postdoctoral research assistant in Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research, University of Maryland, College Park, MD from 2008 to 2013. His research was focused on nanomaterials and targeted delivery of therapeutic molecules. He had made a number of publication on nanomedicine. Currently, he is involved to explore north east region of India representing biodiversity hotspot with endemic flora and fauna, to identify promising microalgal strains as resource for alternative renewable energy production. His broad goal of interest is to understand the characteristics of biomaterials at nano-scale level and looking forward their novel application possibilities. His goal in teaching students is to provide the basic foundations that will allow each student to develop his or her understanding of and capabilities in the area of biotechnology and bioengineering.

Dr. Sunil K. Maity is an academician in the field of Chemical Engineering. He is currently working as an Associate Professor at Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, India. Prior to this, he served about two and half years as an Assistant Professor at National Institute of Technology Rourkela, India. He did his PhD from Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur. His current research interests are i) biorefinery for biofuels and chemical, ii) heterogeneous catalysis and chemical reaction engineering, and iii) process design and techno-economic analysis. He is currently working on hydrodeoxygenation of vegetable oils, steam and oxidative steam reforming, production of gasoline, butylene and aromatics from bio-butanol, hydroxyalkylation-alkylation reaction, and production of butyl levulinate from furfuryl alcohol. He has executed number of externally funded projects. As a research outcome, he has published more than twenty-five research articles, two book chapters, and several national and international conferences.