“Research on Microalgae Production for Biodiesel and Biofertilizer Applications”
Thursday, October 25, 2018
14:00
MBG Conference Hall
Asst. Prof. Dr. Handan Ertürk
Konya Food and Agriculture University
Faculty of Engineering, Department of Bioengineering
Bıography
Dr. Handan Ertürk got her B.S. and M.S. degrees from Food Engineering Department of Middle East Technical University. Later, she went to U.S.A. for graduate study. She earned her pH.D. at Penn State Unıversity, Agricultural & Biological Engineering Department. Her expertise and publications are mainly on plant tissue culture, micropropagation of sugarcane, photoautotrophy, modelling of biological systems, microalgae biodiesel. After she got back to Turkey, she has been researching and teaching on biotechnology, and bioengineering topics. She has expertise with the food industry (pasteurised egg co) R&D department. Currently, she is an assistant professor at the Konya Food and Agriculture University in Konya, Turkey. She has been working on algae culture growth and biodiesel production at the laboratory. Her most recent research has been on use of algae with the egg shell powder as bio-fertilizer for plant production at the hydroponics.
Abstract
This presentation aims to emphasize the importance of R&D studies at the universities for bioengineering of microalgae. Microalgae are seen as clean and renewable energy source compared to fossil based fuels. They have faster growth rates than most of oil plants and they don’t compete for agricultural lands. They growth is maintained outdoor, simply with the energy from sun and nutrients from the media, such as at open ponds near industrial effluents. We have studied the growth and biodiesel production from algae C. vulgaris at the photobioreactor. Our opinion is that laboratory R&D with algae that has been conducted at the bioreactor need to be scaled up to larger open pond reactors in terms of feasibility. Currently at a research project, students are working on application of microalgae and egg shells for plant production at the hydroponics. We applied algae with the egg-shell powder into the circulating hydroponic media at a controlled environment.
