Potential for green algae spirulina to capture carbon dioxide from gas stream

Abstract

This study evaluated the use of green algae Spirulina microalgae as a C02 capturing technology at different temperatures. The growth of Spirulina at 25 and 30◦C were studied in synthetic wastewater and its performance in removing nutrient were determined. Significant differences between the growth patterns of Spirulina were observed at different C02 dosage rate and different operational temperature. Spirulina showed the highest growth at 30 C and with a C02 injection dosage of 10%. Limited growth was observed for the systems injected with 5 and 15 % of C02 with respect to blank solution. Ammonia and phosphorus removals for Spirulina were 69%, 75%, and 83%, and 20%, 45% and 75 % for the media injected with 0, 5 and 10% C02. The results of this study show that simple and cost-effective microalgae-based wastewater treatment systems can be successfully employed at different temperatures as a successful C02 capturing technology even with the small probability of inhibition at high temperatures.