Immobilized Microalgae-Based Photobioreactor for CO2 Capture (IMC-CO2PBR): Efficiency Estimation, Technological Parameters, and Prototype Concept

Atmosphere

Marcin Zieliński¹  Marcin Dębowski¹  Mirosław Krzemieniewski¹  Joanna Kazimierowicz² 

[1] Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Geoengineering, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 10-720 Olsztyn, Poland;Department of Water Supply and Sewage Systems, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences, Bialystok University of Technology, 15-351 Bialystok, Poland;

关键词: CO₂ capture;    CO₂ biosequestration;    modeling;    microalgae;    photobioreactor;    immobilized algae biomass;   

DOI  :  10.3390/atmos12081031

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Microalgae-mediated CO₂ sequestration has been a subject of numerous research works and has become one of the most promising strategies to mitigate carbon dioxide emissions. However, feeding flue and exhaust gas into algae-based systems has been shown to destroy chloroplasts, as well as disrupt photosynthesis and other metabolic processes in microalgae, which directly limits CO₂ uptake. CO₂ biosequestration in existing photobioreactors (PBRs) is also limited by the low biomass concentration in the growth medium. Therefore, there is a real need to seek alternative solutions that would be competitive in terms of performance and cost-effectiveness. The present paper reports the results of experiments aimed to develop an innovative trickle bed reactor that uses immobilized algae to capture CO₂ from flue and exhaust gas (IMC-CO₂PBR). In the experiment, ambient air enriched with technical-grade CO₂ to a CO₂ concentration of 25% v/v was used. The microalgae immobilization technology employed in the experiment produced biomass yields approximating 100 g DM/dm³. A relationship was found between CO₂ removal rates and gas volume flux: almost 40% of CO₂ was removed at a feed of 25 dm³ of gas per hour, whereas in the 200 dm³/h group, the removal efficiency amounted to 5.9%. The work includes a determination of basic process parameters, presentation of a developed functional model and optimized lighting system, proposals for components to be used in the system, and recommendations for an automation and control system for a full-scale implementation.

【 授权许可】

Unknown