Biofixation of CO2 through Microalgae Cultivation as a strategy for capturing and converting carbon into biofuels and bioproducts
microalgae, CO2 bio fixation, greenhouse gases, biomass.
The increasing rise in atmospheric CO2 concentrations due to human activities has led to the search for alternative methods of CO2 capture, including microorganisms such as microalgae. Various authors study the effect of carbon dioxide concentration on the growth of microalgae, even using residual CO2 from industries like cement, which is responsible for over 6% of global CO2 emissions. This work proposes the study of various CO2 concentrations (0.04%, 5%, 10%, and 15%) in the cultivation of two microalgae strains: Chlorella vulgaris and Spirulina platensis, to study their CO2 biofixation capabilities and the production of bioproducts. The research will explore the effects in 4L carboys and subsequent scaling to 100L bioreactors to economically evaluate the entire process. The microalgae will be characterized through various analyses, including: immediate analysis (ash, moisture, volatile content, and fixed carbon), elemental analysis (CHNO), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), XRF of the ashes, lipid content, protein content, conventional and catalytic analytical pyrolysis. Additionally, during cultivation, their growth curve will be analyzed through manual cell counting and pH measured daily.