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Strain and factor selection for carbon dioxide fixation using microalgae cultivated in oil sands process water
Author(s) -
Kasiri Sepideh,
Prasad Vinay,
Ulrich Ania
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
the canadian journal of chemical engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.404
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1939-019X
pISSN - 0008-4034
DOI - 10.1002/cjce.22055
Subject(s) - chlorella pyrenoidosa , botryococcus braunii , carbon fixation , carbon dioxide , chlorella vulgaris , chlorella , light intensity , botany , chemistry , pulp and paper industry , algae , biology , ecology , physics , optics , engineering
Abstract Biological fixation of CO 2 using microalgae is a potential CO 2 reduction strategy which can be applied to the oil sands operations in Alberta. These operations also produce large amounts of oil sands process water (OSPW), which can act as a growth medium for the microalgae. In this study, three different microalgae: Botryococcus braunii , Chlorella pyrenoidosa and Chlorella kessleri were investigated for their ability to grow in OSPW, and to uptake CO 2 . Also, the effect of phosphate, nitrate, CO 2 concentrations and light intensity were studied using a fractional two‐level and a full two‐level factorial design. These investigations eliminated Botryococcus braunii as it cannot grow in OSPW, and demonstrated that Chlorella kessleri has a higher CO 2 uptake rate than Chlorella pyrenoidosa . Moreover, CO 2 concentration, light intensity and phosphate concentration proved to have the strongest effects (in that order) on the growth and CO 2 uptake rate of Chlorella kessleri .