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Borate promoted carbon dioxide capture in alkaline solutions for microalgae cultivation

Kolapalli, Jayachandra
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1556841416245397

Abstract Details

2019, Master of Science, University of Toledo, Chemical Engineering.
A major barrier to economic viability of microalgae biofuels is the high cost of concentrated CO2 supply. Furthermore, global algal biofuel generation would be seriously constrained if micro-algae farms are restricted to the vicinity of CO2 sources along with the additional limitations of low slope barren lands and favorable climate. One potential solution to decrease CO2-related costs and geographical constraints is to cultivate microalgae cultures in high pH media (pH >10) that can uptake ambient/atmospheric CO2 at high rates. In addition, adding high concentrations of carbonate/bicarbonate to the media (i.e. media with high bicarbonate/carbonate alkalinity) provides high dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) for photosynthesis. The presence of rate promotors like boric acid further aids in CO2 hydration and absorption and can lower the requirements for physical mass transfer and mixing costs in high pH media. In this study, results of ambient CO2 uptake rates in borate-promoted and promoter-free alkaline solutions are reported. Experiments were performed in indoor bench-scale photobioreactors as well as in outdoor raceway ponds to be relevant to reactors typically used for microalgae cultivations. Mathematical models were developed from chemical equilibria first principles and fit to experimental measurements to determine the rates of CO2 uptake, mass transfer coefficients and chemical reaction-facilitated enhancements to mass transfer. The model predictions closely correlated with experimental data and showed that the rate of DIC increase in the borate promoted carbonate/bicarbonate solutions systems was at least 50% higher than the non-promoted carbonate/bicarbonate solutions. Finally, cultivation experiments were performed to verify our hypothesis of achieving higher, or at least similar biomass productivities of Chlorella sorokiniana str. SLA-04 in borate-containing alkaline media. Our results showed that biomass productivities of SLA-04 cultures in borate-containing media (with 8 mM boric acid) were 10% higher than the promoter-free alkaline systems. Overall, our studies show that borate-containing alkaline media facilitate enhanced CO2 uptake from the atmosphere and can also improve biomass productivities of alkaliphilic microalgae.
Sridhar Viamajala (Committee Chair)
Coleman Maria R. (Committee Member)
Alba Rubio Ana C. (Committee Member)
94 p.
Chemical Engineering

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Citations

  • Kolapalli, J. (2019). Borate promoted carbon dioxide capture in alkaline solutions for microalgae cultivation [Master's thesis, University of Toledo]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1556841416245397

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Kolapalli, Jayachandra. Borate promoted carbon dioxide capture in alkaline solutions for microalgae cultivation. 2019. University of Toledo, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1556841416245397.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Kolapalli, Jayachandra. "Borate promoted carbon dioxide capture in alkaline solutions for microalgae cultivation." Master's thesis, University of Toledo, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1556841416245397

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

toledo1556841416245397
864
© 2019, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Borate promoted carbon dioxide capture in alkaline solutions for microalgae cultivation by Jayachandra Kolapalli is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by University of Toledo and OhioLINK.