title: Direct membrane-carbonation photobioreactor producing photoautotrophic biomass via carbon dioxide transfer and nutrient removal.
abstract: An advanced-material photobioreactor, the direct membrane-carbonation photobioreactor (DMCPBR), was tested to investigate the impact of directly submerging a membrane carbonation (MC) module of hollow-fiber membranes inside the photobioreactor. Results demonstrate that the DMCPBR utilized over 90% of the supplied CO2 by matching the CO2 flux to the C demand of photoautotrophic biomass growth. The surface area of the submerged MC module was the key to control CO2 delivery and biomass productivity. Tracking the fate of supplied CO2 explained how the DMCPBR reduced loss of gaseous CO2 while matching the inorganic carbon (IC) demand to its supply. Accurate fate analysis required that the biomass-associated C include soluble microbial products as a sink for captured CO2. With the CO2 supply matched to the photosynthetic demand, light attenuation limited the rate microalgal photosynthesis. The DMCPBR presents an opportunity to improve CO2-deliver efficiency and make microalgae a more effective strategy for C-neutral resource recovery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Engineering, Soil Environment Research Center, Chonbuk National University, 567 Baekje-daero, Deokjin-gu, Jeonju 54896, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: hyunwoo@jbnu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Hyun-Woo
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430070, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology, The Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University, P.O. Box 875701, Tempe, AZ 85287-5701, USA.
authors.forename: Bruce E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Rittmann
mesh_terms: D018533:Biomass; D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D008027:Light; D058086:Microalgae / Q000254:growth & development*; D058433:Photobioreactors; D010788:Photosynthesis / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D002244:Carbon
keywords: Inorganic carbon flux; Membrane-carbonation; Permeability; Photoautotrophic growth; Resource recovery