Date of Award:

8-2013

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Committee Chair(s)

Byard D. Wood, Jason C. Quinn

Committee

Byard D. Wood

Committee

Jason C. Quinn

Committee

Rees R. Fullmer

Abstract

Ever-increasing fuel prices and a limited supply of oil worldwide are threatening our economy and way of life in both the near and distant future. In order to reduce oil
dependence, the US Department of Energy (DOE) has established a goal that by the year 2030, 30% of the US transportation fuel will be renewable. The goal equates to
approximately 60 billion gallons per year of renewable fuel.

In an effort to reach the DOE renewable fuel goal, numerous types of plants are being studied, whose oil can be harvested and refined to serve as replacement fuel.
Among the various plants under consideration for fuel production, microalgae have the greatest known potential yield in gallons of oil per acre of land. This study evaluates the nutrient requirements for large-scale microalgae production, sufficient to meet the DOE fuel goal. Five different production scenarios are considered, and the nutrient requirements for the baseline, or most expected scenario, are then compared to the availability of various nutrient sources. Results suggest that nutrient demand represents a major barrier to achievement of the DOE fuel production goal. A sensitivity analysis is used to determine which aspects of the fuel production process have the greatest impact on nutrient demand, which guides suggestions for future research.

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