Engineering Commons^™

The Icarus Floating Membrane Photobioreactor For Microalgae Cultivation In Wastewater: Advancing Technology From Lab To Field Prototype, Melanie Pickett

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The ICARUS membrane photobioreactor, conceptualized and preliminarily tested at the University of South Florida, provides a viable platform for algae cultivation using wastewater as a growth medium. Progression of the technology is tracked using NASA’s Technology Readiness Level scale, and is herein described. Through the work described in this manuscript, the technology has evolved from TRL 3 to TRL 5. Completing the suggested future work will readily move the technology to TRL 6 and beyond.

The first study investigated the co-location of algal cultivation with wastewater treatment. This coupling provides a steady source of water and nutrients for algal growth. …

Conversion Of Biomass To Liquid Hydrocarbon Fuels Via Anaerobic Digestion: A Feasibility Study, Ahmad Naqi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The use of biomass as a potential feedstock for the production of liquid hydrocarbon fuels has been under investigation in the last few decades. This paper discusses a preliminary design and a feasibility study of producing liquid hydrocarbon fuels from biomass through a combined biochemical and thermochemical route. The process involves anaerobic digestion (AD) of the biodegradable portion of the biomass to produce methane rich gas. The methane rich biogas stream is purified by removing contaminants and upgraded to liquid hydrocarbon fuel in a gas to liquid facility (GTL) via thermochemical conversion route. The biogas conversion involves two major steps: …