Keffer J E, Kleinheinz G T
Department of Biology and Microbiology, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, 800 Algoma Boulevard, Oshkosh, WI 54901, USA.
J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol. 2002 Nov;29(5):275-80. doi: 10.1038/sj.jim.7000313.
Carbon dioxide (CO(2)) is a colorless gas that exists at a concentration of approximately 330 ppm in the atmosphere and is released in great quantities when fossil fuels are burned. The current flux of carbon out of fossil fuels is about 600 times greater than that into fossil fuels. With increased concerns about global warming and greenhouse gas emissions, there have been several approaches proposed for managing the levels of CO(2) emitted into the atmosphere. One of the most understudied methods for CO(2) mitigation is the use of biological processes in engineered systems such as photobioreactors. This research project describes the effectiveness of Chlorella vulgaris, used in a photobioreactor with a very short gas residence time, in sequestering CO(2) from an elevated CO(2) airstream. We evaluated a flow-through photobioreactor's operational parameters, as well as the growth characteristics of the C. vulgaris inoculum when exposed to an airstream with over 1850 ppm CO(2). When using dry weight, chlorophyll, and direct microscopic measurements, it was apparent that the photobioreactor's algal inoculum responded well to the elevated CO(2) levels and there was no build-up of CO(2) or carbonic acid in the photobioreactor. The photobioreactor, with a gas residence time of approximately 2 s, was able to remove up to 74% of the CO(2) in the airstream to ambient levels. This corresponded to a 63.9-g/m(3)/h bulk removal for the experimental photobioreactor. Consequently, this photobioreactor shows that biological processes may have some promise for treating point source emissions of CO(2) and deserve further study.
二氧化碳（CO₂）是一种无色气体，在大气中的浓度约为330 ppm，当化石燃料燃烧时会大量释放。目前化石燃料中碳的流出通量比流入通量大约600倍。随着对全球变暖和温室气体排放的关注度增加，人们提出了几种管理排放到大气中的CO₂水平的方法。在工程系统（如光生物反应器）中利用生物过程是最未被充分研究的CO₂减排方法之一。本研究项目描述了在气体停留时间非常短的光生物反应器中使用的普通小球藻从高浓度CO₂气流中固存CO₂的有效性。我们评估了流通式光生物反应器的运行参数，以及普通小球藻接种物在暴露于CO₂浓度超过1850 ppm的气流时的生长特性。当使用干重、叶绿素和直接显微镜测量时，很明显光生物反应器中的藻类接种物对升高的CO₂水平反应良好，并且光生物反应器中没有CO₂或碳酸的积累。气体停留时间约为2秒的光生物反应器能够将气流中的CO₂去除高达74%至环境水平。这相当于实验性光生物反应器的63.9克/立方米/小时的总体去除量。因此，这种光生物反应器表明生物过程在处理CO₂点源排放方面可能有一定前景，值得进一步研究。
