BlOMASS RECYCLE AS A MEANS TO IMPROVE THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY OF CELSS ALGAL CULTURE SYSTEMS

Algal cultures can be very rapid and efficient means to generate biomass and regenerate the atmosphere for closed environmental life support systems. However, as in the case of mast higher plants, a significant fraction of the biomass produced by most algae cannot be directly converted to a useful food product by standard food technology procedures. This waste biomass wl l l serve as an energy drain on the overall system unless i t can be efficiently recycled without a signifiavlt loss of its energy content. We report experiments i n which cultures of the alga Scenedesmus obliauus were grown in the light and at the expense of an a & M carbon source, which either replaced or supplemented the actinic light. As part of these experiments we tested hydrolyzed waste biomass from these same algae to determine whether the algae themselves could be made part of the biological recycling p r m . Results indicate that hydrolyzed algal (and plant) biomass can serve as carbon and energy sources for the growth of these algae, suggesting that the efficiency of the closed system could be significantly improved using this recycling prccass.