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. 2020 Jan 9:7:441.
doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2019.00441. eCollection 2019.

Large-Scale Cultivation of Spirulina for Biological CO2 Mitigation in Open Raceway Ponds Using Purified CO2 From a Coal Chemical Flue Gas

Baohua Zhu  1 , Han Shen  1 , Yun Li  1 , Qiuke Liu  1 , Guiyong Jin  1 , Jichang Han  2 , Yan Zhao  2 , Kehou Pan  1   3
Affiliations

Large-Scale Cultivation of Spirulina for Biological CO2 Mitigation in Open Raceway Ponds Using Purified CO2 From a Coal Chemical Flue Gas

Baohua Zhu et al. Front Bioeng Biotechnol. .

Abstract

In order to select excellent strains with high CO2 fixation capability on a large scale, nine Spirulina species were cultivated in columnar photobioreactors with the addition of 10% CO2. The two species selected (208 and 220) were optimized for pH value, total dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), and phosphorus content with intermittent CO2 addition in 4 m2 indoor raceway ponds. On the basis of biomass accumulation and CO2 fixation rate in the present study, the optimum pH, DIC, and phosphate concentration were 9.5, 0.1 mol L-1, and 200 mg L-1 for both strains, respectively. Lastly, the two strains selected were semi-continuously cultivated successfully for CO2 mitigation in 605 m2 raceway ponds aerated with food-grade CO2 purified from a coal chemical flue gas on a large scale. The daily average biomass dry weight of the two stains reached up to 18.7 and 13.2 g m-2 d-1, respectively, suggesting the two Spirulina strains can be utilized for mass production.

Keywords: CO2 mitigation; Spirulina sp.; coal chemical flue gas; large-scale cultivation; process optimization.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
HCO3- and CO32- concentrations (g/L) of two Spirulina strains (208, A–C; 220, D–F) cultivated in indoor raceway ponds (4 m2) with different pH (A,D), total dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) concentrations (B,E), and phosphoric acid concentrations (C,F).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Biomass concentration (g/L) of two Spirulina strains (208, A–C; 220, D–F) cultivated in indoor raceway ponds (4 m2) with different pH (A,D), total dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) concentrations (B,E), and phosphoric acid concentrations (C,F).
Figure 3
Figure 3
The average sunlight intensity and solution temperature changes on a typical day (A) and biomass dry weight (B) of two Spirulina strains (208, 220) semi-continuously cultivated in open raceway ponds (605 m2).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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