The impact of introducing liquid-type carbon towards the growth performance and lipid accumulation of microalgae.

Abstract

Carbon dioxide is an important element for microalgae growth through photosynthesis. However, this vital process can be restricted by slow mass transfer of carbon dioxide in the cultivation medium. On the other hand, liquid-type carbon can be introduced as an alternative carbon source to enhance the carbon dioxide medium mass transfer. In the present work, two types of liquid-type carbon sources (NTL and API) were used to evaluate the growth performance of Chlorella vulgaris under different conditions. It was determined that the optimum concentration for both NTL and API liquid type carbon was 1 mL/200 mL, and the attained biomass concentration was around 1.48 -1.49 g/L (increment of about 8 % compared to the control) at pH 5. Under these conditions, the highest lipid content of the microalgae was 38.10 wt%, which was generally higher than the control experiment (28.40 wt%).