Improving growth rate of microalgae in a 1191 m2 raceway pond to fix CO2 from flue gas in a coal-fired power plant

Abstract

CO2 fixation between microalgal biomass and culture solution and the weight ratio of biomass consumption at nighttime to biomass growth at daytime were compared in an open raceway pond aerated with flue gas from a coal-fired power plant. Average daytime sunlight intensity and solution temperature were optimized to improve microalgal growth rate and to enhance the efficiency of CO2 fixation. When the average daytime solution temperature increased from 12 to 26°C, the rate of biomass consumption due to microalgal respiration at nighttime increased from 6.0 to 7.9g/m2/d, which was approximately 25% of the biomass growth rate at daytime. Furthermore, when the average daytime sunlight intensity increased from 39,900 to 88,300lux, CO2 fixation rate in the microalgal biomass increased from 18.4 to 40.7g/m2/d, which was approximately 1/3 of CO2 removal rate from flue gas by the microalgal culture system.