Volume 21: Sustainable Energy Solutions for a Post-COVID Recovery towards a Better Future: Part IV

The optimized study of A novel attached membrane photobioreactor on advanced carbon sequestration of microalgae Rui-Long Wang, Ming-Jia Li*, Dong Li

Abstract

In this paper, the molecular dynamic study (MDS) and experimental study are conducted to investigate the CO2 transmission discipline and to improve the carbon sequestration of the microalgae attached membrane photobioreactor (AM-PBR). First, for simulation part, the polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) membrane and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane are chosen for MDS. A three-layer simulation model is developed to describe the transmission process of CO2 from gas-liquid layer to microalgae cell. Then, several parameters including diffusion coefficient, concentration profile and velocity profile of CO2 is analyzed to compare the different membranes and working conditions. Finally, the experiments are conducted and the AM-PBR is designed to verified the simulation results. The results showed that the CO2 transmission and diffusion in PVDF membrane is better than PTFE membrane, and the average velocity of CO2 in PVDF system is 3-9 times higher than the velocity in PTFE system. For different working condition, the CO2 diffusion in 5% concentration is the highest comparing with other groups in both PVDF and PTFE systems. The experiments proved that the AM-PBR has higher microalgae growth rate than the normal PBRs. This work is a fundamental for the optimization of the PBR and membrane to improve the carbon sequestration rate.

Keywords microalgae, carbon sequestration, membrane photobioreactor, molecular dynamics