Utilization of Organic Liquid Fertilizer in Microalgae Cultivation for Biodiesel Production

The utilization of organic liquid fertilizer PAL-1 as the culture medium of the microalga Chlorella vulgaris was investigated for the purpose of biodiesel production. Cell growth and lipid accumulation in PAL-1 were evaluated and compared with those in the artificial medium BG-11. Cells showed mixotrophic growth when utilizing the organic liquid fertilizer PAL-1. The rates of cell growth (0.143 d^-1) and N consumption (14.9 mg/L/d) in PAL-1 were almost the same as those in BG-11, under the presence of 2% CO₂-enriched aeration and light irradiation. Lipid synthesis was triggered in PAL-1 on day 4, when nitrogen was completely consumed, and the lipid content reached up to 48% thereafter. Lipid productivity could be enhanced using repeated-batch cultivation in which cells were exposed to N limitation repeatedly, and thus lipid synthesis was induced while maintaining a sufficiently high cell density.