Microalgae as an alternative to treat captured CO 2 through membrane diffusion for energy optimization

Ahmad Aliyan Alif bin Ismail

Chemical Engineering Department, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS
aliyanalif@gmail.com
+60128202844

Velisia Chandra Gunawan

Chemical Engineering Department, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS
velisiachandra@gmail.com
+60134773815

ABSTRACT
The aim of this research is to investigate the possibility of using microalgae as an alternative to treat captured CO 2
by flowing it through a membrane diffuser to the microalgae tank, as well as to compare the performance of
membrane diffuser and standard bubble diffuser in terms of diffused bubble surface area and rate of growth of
microalgae, of which the cultivated microalgae will be used as a mean to generate electricity ( through biomass)
to lower the energy consumption as well as sustaining energy. The scope of this project will cover the use of
commercialized PTFE flat sheet membrane and pure CO2 gas as the feed gas and the diffusion method used will
be in either membrane diffuser or bubble diffuser. In the experiment, the feed gas will flow through the membrane
diffuser, while the other side of the membrane contains microalgae suspension that will utilize the CO2 for algae
growth and removing CO2 from inlet feed stream in the process. The biomass content of four different samples is
determined by using the dry weight of the algae suspension samples, which is obtained by drying the samples in
an oven overnight at a temperature of 105°C. The microalgae suspension with the membrane diffuser have been
shown to be able to remove CO2 feasibly while the membrane diffuser also shows a better performance in terms
of algae cultivation compared to the bubble diffuser as the maximum biomass content of the samples that use the
membrane diffuser has higher values at 0.325g/L and 0.275g/L. Furthermore, the algae cultivated in a tank with
membrane diffuser shows relatively high conductivity as compared to normal diffuser. Thus, it has been shown
that the medium of diffusion is an important factor in stimulating algae growth, with membrane diffuser having
higher efficiency in bubble distribution compared to bubble diffuser as it has higher effective surface area.
Keywords: microalgae; captured CO2; membrane diffusion; commercialized PTFE flat sheet membrane.