Effect of Zeolite 4A to Marine Microalgae Culture

Abstract

As a photosynthetic organism, microalgae curbs carbon dioxide (CO₂) emission via carbon up-take either in active or passive transport trough it cell wall. Nonetheless, the bottleneck factor of CO₂ fixation trough microalgae is due to CO₂ dissolution in water. Apart from the dissolution of CO₂ from air into water is too slow to replace the assimilated CO₂ by microalgae, the solubility of CO₂ in water decreases with increasing of salinity. Hence this paper describes the initiative using nanomaterial to increase the dissolution of CO₂ in marine microalgae culture. Marine microalgae culture has been inoculated in 10 liter photobioreactor (PBR). The ambient temperature has been set at 25 °C and in 12 h / 12 h dark-light photoperiod. 10 g of zeolites 4a as nanomaterial has been used to increase the dissolution of CO₂ in the saline cultured solution. Through this study, growth rate for culture added with zeolite was µ_Z4A was 0.35 O.D.day^-1, and cell doubling time T_d-Z4A was1.96 day. In contrast the control culture growth rate µ_control was 0.22 O.D.day^-1, and for cell doubling times T_{d- control} it takes 3.15 day. The highest concentration of inorganic carbon in solution in microalgae culture with zeolite was 23.3 ppm while the control culture was only 15.4 ppm. Thus proof that zeolite 4A hastens the dissolution of CO₂ in marine microalgae culture, therefore enhancing carbon capture trough biological means.