SBIR Phase I: On-Farm Algae Production for Livestock Feed

SBIR第一阶段项目将研究新的藻类菌株，利用农场资源（包括余热、烟道气和牲畜粪便）生产大量高质量的动物饲料。 研究将集中在凉爽气候和低日照条件下的藻类生长，以实现中西部上游地区牲畜饲料的可靠全年大量生产。 本项目旨在调查生长藻类的跑道反应器内位于绿色的房子。 种植藻类的目的是提供动物饲料。 营养物质将来自稀释的厌氧处理的猪粪便。 燃煤锅炉将提供热量，烟道气将用于提供二氧化碳。 烟气将在充满给水的水箱中喷射，或通过跑道池本身的流体喷射。 这项工作将在一个农场进行，藻类将使用袋系统收获。 收获的藻类将在附近的一所大学进行评估，以确定其作为动物饲料的效用。 将对几种藻类菌株进行评价。 整个藻类也将被喂给动物，以测试其作为饲料的有效性。该项目更广泛的商业影响将是，项目研究的成功可以帮助农民减少对化石燃料能源的依赖。 如果收获的藻类可以这样利用而不需要太多的处理，它将代表一种甚至在中型农场也可能持续的操作。农民团体似乎对这种活动很感兴趣。 该设施还将用于教育高中学生可持续农业的艺术和培训工厂操作。 成功实现SBIR项目的目标可能会导致相当快的商业成功。 与陆地作物相比，利用水产养殖生产动物饲料的足迹预计较小，能源和水密集度较低。使用藻类作为牲畜饲料还具有生产具有更有利的（相对于人类健康）脂肪酸分布的肉类和乳制品的明显可能性。

This SBIR Phase I project will study novel algal strains to produce large amounts of high quality animal feed using on-farm resources including spare heat, flue gas, and livestock manure. Research will focus on algal growth under cool climate and low sun conditions to achieve reliable year-round production of large amounts for livestock feed in the upper Midwest. This project seeks to investigate growing algae in raceway reactors located within green houses. The purpose of growing the algae will be to provide animal feed. The nutrients will come from diluted anaerobically-treated hog waste. Heat will be provided from coal-fired boiler and flue gases will be used to provide carbon dioxide. Flue gases will be sparged either in a tank full of feed water or through the fluid in the raceway pond itself. The work will be carried out on a farm and the algae will be harvested using a bag system. Harvested algae will be evaluated in a nearby university for its utility as animal feed. Several algal strains will be evaluated. Whole algae will be fed to animals also to test its effectiveness as feed.The broader/commercial impact of the project will be that success in the project research could help farmers become a little less dependent on energy from fossil fuels. If the harvested algae can be utilized as such without much treatment, it will represent an operation that can perhaps be sustained even on medium sized farms. There appears to be considerable interest in such activity from farmer groups. The facility will also be used to educate high school students in the art of sustainable farming and train in plant operation. Success in meeting the objectives of this SBIR project could lead to fairly rapid commercial success. The use of aquaculture for animal feed production is anticipated to have a smaller footprint and be less energy and water intensive as opposed to terrestrial crops. The use of algae as livestock feed also carries the distinct possibility of producing meat and dairy products with a more favorable (with respect to human health) fatty acid profile.