Field study on attached cultivation of Arthrospira (Spirulina) with carbon dioxide as carbon source

Junfeng Wang; Wentao Cheng; Wen Liu; Hui Wang; Dongcun Zhang; Zhanshan Qiao; Guiyong Jin; Tianzhong Liu

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2019.03.099

Field study on attached cultivation of Arthrospira (Spirulina) with carbon dioxide as carbon source

Bioresour Technol. 2019 Jul:283:270-276. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2019.03.099. Epub 2019 Mar 21.

Authors

Junfeng Wang¹, Wentao Cheng¹, Wen Liu², Hui Wang¹, Dongcun Zhang³, Zhanshan Qiao³, Guiyong Jin⁴, Tianzhong Liu⁵

Affiliations

¹ CAS Key Laboratory of Biofuels, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, Shandong 266101, PR China.
² CAS Key Laboratory of Biofuels, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, Shandong 266101, PR China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China.
³ Ordos Jiali Spirulina Co., Ltd, Ordos 016199, China.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Mariculture of Ministry of Education of China, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003,China.
⁵ CAS Key Laboratory of Biofuels, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, Shandong 266101, PR China. Electronic address: liutz@qibebt.ac.cn.

PMID: 30921579
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2019.03.099

Abstract

Microalga is considered as a promising candidate for CO₂ bio-sequestration. Biofilm attached cultivation is a newly developed technology with many advantages over conventional aqua-suspended methods. In this research, the field performance of this technology was investigated with a 10 m² pilot system under greenhouse condition by cultivating Arthrospira (Spirulina) platensis with CO₂ as carbon source. The system run continuously for two months without contamination bloom. Averaged biomass productivity was 38.3 g m^-2 d^-1 with protein content over 60% and overall CO₂ usage efficiency of 75.1%. Construction cost for the pilot system was over US$200 per m² which was much higher than that of open pond. However, there was a great reduction space in future large-scale application if the most expensive materials were substituted with cheaper ones. These results indicated the attached cultivation was a promising technology for industrialized application of microalga in CCUS (carbon capture, utilization and storage).

Keywords: Attached cultivation; CO(2) sequestration; CO(2) usage efficiency; Microalgae; Productivity.

MeSH terms

Bacterial Proteins / metabolism
Biomass
Carbon / metabolism*
Carbon Dioxide / metabolism*
Spirulina / metabolism*

Substances

Bacterial Proteins
Carbon Dioxide
Carbon