A new technology of CO2 supplementary for microalgae cultivation on large scale – A spraying absorption tower coupled with an outdoor open runway pond

Abstract

An effective CO2 supply system of a spraying absorption tower combined with an outdoor ORWP (open raceway pond) for microalgae photoautotrophic cultivation is developed in this paper. The microalgae yield, productivity and CO2 fixation efficiency were investigated, and compared with those of bubbling method. The maximum yield and productivity of biomass were achieved 0.927gL−1 and 0.114gL−1day−1, respectively. The fixation efficiency of CO2 by microalgae with the spraying tower reached 50%, whereas only 11.17% for bubbling method. Pure CO2 can be used in the spraying absorption tower, and the flow rate was only about one third of the bubbling cultivation. It shows that this new method of quantifiable control CO2 supply can meet the requirements of the growth of microalgae cultivation on large-scale.