ENHANCED PRACTICAL PHOTOSYNTHETIC CO2 MITIGATION

This quarterly report documents significant achievements in the Enhanced Practical Photosynthetic CO{sub 2} Mitigation project during the period from 1/03/2001 through 4/02/2001. Many of the activities and accomplishments are continuations of work initiated and reported in last quarter's status report. Major activities and accomplishments for this quarter include: Three sites in Yellowstone National Park have been identified that may contain suitable organisms for use in a bioreactor; Full-scale culturing of one thermophilic organism from Yellowstone has progressed to the point that there is a sufficient quantity to test this organism in the model-scale bioreactor; The effects of the additive monoethanolamine on the growth of one thermophilic organism from Yellowstone has been tested; Testing of growth surface adhesion and properties is continuing; Construction of a larger model-scale bioreactor to improve and expand testing capabilities is completed and the facility is undergoing proof tests; Model-scale bioreactor tests examining the effects of CO{sub 2} concentration levels and lighting levels on organism growth rates are continuing; Alternative fiber optic based deep-penetration light delivery systems for use in the pilot-scale bioreactor have been designed, constructed and tested; An existing slug flow reactor system has been modified for use in this project, and a proof-of-concept test plan has been developed for the slug flow reactor; Research and testing of water-jet harvesting techniques is continuing, and a harvesting system has been designed for use in the model-scale bioreactor; and The investigation of comparative digital image analysis as a means for determining the ''density'' of algae on a growth surface is continuing Plans for next quarter's work and an update on the project's web page are included in the conclusions