By-PATH (By-products to protein and algae to Hydrogen)

"This is a PhD research project in Bioscience and Bioengineering. Horizon Proteins Ltd. (HP) will work with Siobhan Bevan (SB), supervised by Nik Willoughby (NW) and Farnaz Mohsenpour (FM) within the Institute for Biological Chemistry, Biophysics and Bioengineering (IB3) on a joint PhD project to investigate pot ale and spent wash (the key liquid by-products from malt and grain whisky production, respectively). HP have already developed commercial processes to recover the soluble protein from both of these by-products and to then concentrate the remaining material and this project will use this deproteinated concentrate as a feedstock for algal H2 generation. H2 is an emerging transport fuel and with its use also been suggested for thermal energy in distilleries, it is clear that this project could have immense environmental and commercial benefits.
The project will focus on enhancement of H2 production through algal strain selection, culture conditions and feedstock optimisation. The research would seek to address the challenges associated with H2 production using microalgae, specifically O2 inhibition of H2 production due to PSII activation during illumination. We propose investigation of both a two-stage growth process, alternating light periods for biomass growth and dark periods for H2 generation and also use of mixotrophic systems with O2 and light intensity used to control carbon assimilation and H2 yield. Previous work has demonstrated preferential activation of PSI over PSII (and therefore potentially improved H2 yields) by spectral shifting and also light intensity control of carbon assimilation, techniques NW and FM have previously utilised successfully in microalgae."