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Coupling Carbon Capture from a Power Plant with Semi-automated Open Raceway Ponds for Microalgae Cultivation
Published on: August 14, 2020
Characteristics of external carbon uptake by microalgae growth and associated effects on algal biomass composition
1International Science & Technology Cooperation Center for Urban Alternative Water Resources Development, China; Key Lab of Northwest Water Resource, Environment and Ecology, MOE, China; Engineering Technology Research Center for Wastewater Treatment and Reuse, Shaanxi Province, China; Key Lab of Environmental Engineering, Shaanxi Province, China; Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, No. 13, Yanta Road, Xi'an 710055, China.
Abstract:
Water eutrophication may be affected not only by nutrients but also the coexisting organic carbon. In order to reveal the effect of external carbon on algal growth, an experimental study was conducted using Chlorella vulgaris as the representative microalgae to investigate their growth under varied N and P levels with/without added glucose at TOC = 18 mg/L. The TOC consumption by microalgae growth depended much on N and P concentrations and N/P ratio especially when P was sufficient. This ultimately increased the specific growth rate and resulted in higher N and P accumulations but lower carbon fixation in algal biomass in contrast to non-TOC addition. The biomass dry weight became much lower with TOC addition, along with an apparent change of algal composition shown by the much lower chlorophyll contents in the microalgae cells, which might associate the extent of two carbon fixation pathways - anabolism vs catabolism.
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