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Algae Growth. 9-5-07. CO 2 requirements for Growth. Algae is about 50% carbon=>1.8kg CO 2 to produce 1 kg algae Concentration of CO 2 in bulk should be around 65 μ M with a pH=8.5 for some marine and saline water diatoms. Oxygen inhibition of the growth.
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Algae Growth 9-5-07
CO2 requirements for Growth • Algae is about 50% carbon=>1.8kg CO2 to produce 1 kg algae • Concentration of CO2 in bulk should be around 65μM with a pH=8.5 for some marine and saline water diatoms.
Oxygen inhibition of the growth • Oxygen levels above air saturation (0.2247 mol O2/m3) could inhibit. • Elevated conc. of O2 combined with high levels of irradiance can lead to photo-oxidation. • In practice the minimum feasible level of dissolved O2 is 21% of air saturation since the nutrient feeds tends to be in equilibrium with the atmosphere.
Patent Review • Most patents on PBR are for tubular air-lift type PBRs. • A couple of plate-like PBRs have be patented. • Only one membrane PBR, the OH PBR has been patented. • Most of the PBRs were designed for the removal of contaminants like heavy metals and CO2, a few were designed to make fine chemicals.
Future Work • Develop growth model based on CO2, O2 and light intensity. Will probably be a modification of the model used by Greenfuel to apply to a membrane PBR. • Need to choose algae strain to use in model, probably will be Botryococcus braunii ~40-60% oil. • Find the answers to the rest of the questions Prof. Ng sent.