الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract The present study identified 4 new strains of the colonial green alga Botryococcus braunii. This alga is well known for its production of liquid hydrocarbons that can be converted into petroleum equivalent fuels such as gasoline. Thus, B. braunii has Attracted attention as a source of renewable fuels. The new B. braunii strains that were isolated form the Nile River were characterized in terms of hydrocarbon production, hydrocarbon identity, biomass accumulation, growth rate, and phylogenic analysis. The composition of the hydrocarbons produced by these new strains of B. braunii was analyzed using GC/MS. The results indicate that these Egyptian strains of B. braunii are capable of producing hydrocarbons consistent with the A race of B. braunii as well as unique hydrocarbons that have not been found before in other strains of B. braunii. These new strains of B. braunii were also identified as belonging to the A race utilizing phylogenetic analysis using the 5.8S ribosomal RNA gene. The growth media was optimized for the optimum biomass and hydrocarbon production of the Egyptian isolates of B. braunii. The growth controlling factors were examined individually for its optimum content in order to increase the Egyptian B. braunii biomass, hydrocarbons, and growth rate. Once each component was optimized, the optimum amounts of each component were combined into one media recipe and each parameter examined again. The results were impressive showing that the optimized media was able to significantly increase the biomass accumulation and hydrocarbon production. |