Effect of flue gas CO₂ on the growth, carbohydrate and fatty acid composition of a green microalga Scenedesmus obliquus for biofuel production

ABSTRACT

Effect of various flue gas CO₂ concentrations (5%, 10% and 14.1%) on growth rate and biochemical properties of a green microalga Scenedesmus obliquus was investigated. S. obliquus showed the highest biomass production and growth rate (0.36 g L⁻¹ and μ_max = 1.00 day⁻¹), total inorganic carbon removal (35.8 mg L⁻¹), lipid productivity (9.9 mg L⁻¹ day) and carbohydrate productivity (10.3 mg L⁻¹ day) with 14.1% CO₂ after 8 days of cultivation. Fatty acid methyl ester analysis revealed that the palmitic and oleic acid contents were increased up to 5% and 7% with 14.1% CO₂, respectively. Application of flue gas CO₂ enhanced the growth along with lipid and carbohydrate productivity of S. obliquus, which can be exploited for reducing the CO₂ concentration.

KEYWORDS:

• Flue gas CO₂
• microalgae
• S. obliquus
• biomass
• bio-energy

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Sanghyun Park form KIST for valuable work with the algal cultures.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The project was financially supported by the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (Grant 2E26300).