2019 journal article

A Microalgae Biocomposite-Integrated Spinning Disk Bioreactor (SDBR): Toward a Scalable Engineering Approach for Bioprocess Intensification in Light-Driven CO2 Absorption Applications

INDUSTRIAL & ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY RESEARCH, 58(15), 5936–5949.

co-author countries: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 🇬🇧 United States of America 🇺🇸
Source: Web Of Science
Added: May 13, 2019

A scalable, solar-energy-driven microbial spinning disk gas absorber–converter technology has been developed by a novel combination of advanced photoreactive biocomposite materials with a continuous thin film flow spinning disc bioreactor (SDBR). Chlorella vulgaris microalgae were incorporated into a porous paper biocomposite for the first time with the addition of chitosan for cell integration within the paper matrix. A 10-cm-diameter SDBR with an immobilized C. vulgaris biocomposite paper enabled high photoactivity and CO2 biofixation at a spin speed of 300 rpm over 15 h of operation in the presence of bicarbonate in the liquid medium and 5% CO2 in the gas environment. Practically all C. vulgaris cells in the biocomposite successfully remained attached to the disk under conditions equivalent to 5g at the disc edge. Overall, the increased CO2 biofixation with a greatly reduced biocomposite surface area and the high cell retention in this proof-of-concept technology highlight the bioprocess intensification potential of the biocomposite integrated-SDBR.