Innovative development of membrane sparger for carbon dioxide supply in microalgae cultures
Luiza Moraes, Gabriel Martins da Rosa, Lucielen Oliveira Santos, Jorge Alberto Vieira Costa
Abstract
Abstract The present study was aimed to develop a membrane sparger (MS) integrated into a tubular photobioreactor to promote the increase of the carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) fixation by Spirulina sp. LEB 18 cultures. The use of MS for the CO 2 supply in Spirulina cultures resulted not only in the increase of DIC concentrations but also in the highest accumulated DIC concentration in the liquid medium (127.4 mg L −1 d −1 ). The highest values of biomass concentration (1.98 g L −1 ), biomass productivity (131.8 mg L −1 d −1 ), carbon in biomass (47.9% w w −1 ), CO 2 fixation rate (231.6 mg L −1 d −1 ), and CO 2 use efficiency (80.5% w w −1 ) by Spirulina were verified with MS, compared to the culture with conventional sparger for CO 2 supply. Spirulina biomass in both culture conditions had high protein contents varying from 64.9 to 69% (w w −1 ). MS can be considered an innovative system for the supply of carbon for the microalgae cultivation and biomass production. Moreover, the use of membrane system might contribute to increased process efficiency with a reduced cost of biomass production.