The synergy of light/fluid flow and membrane modification of a novel membrane microalgal photobioreactor for direct air carbon capture

Rui-Long Wang, Ming-Jia Li, Dong Li and Yi-Wen Yang

Applied Energy, 2022, vol. 328, issue C, No S0306261922013903

Abstract: In this paper, a novel microalgal attached membrane photobioreactor based on the modified polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) / polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) composite membrane for microalgae direct air carbon capture is developed and optimized. The Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation, molecular dynamic study (MDS) and experimental study are adopted to investigate the synergy between light transmission and fluid flow, CO2 transmission mechanism inside the membrane and microalgae cells. The modified composite membrane is proposed and processed to improve the carbon sequestration rate of the microalgal attached membrane photobioreactor (AM-PBR). First, the synergy angle between the light transmission direction and fluid flow direction of the flat-plate photobioreactor (FP-PBR) is analyzed. To improve the synergy of light and fluid flow, the AM-PBR is proposed. Secondly, for the MDS part, the models of PVDF membrane and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane are developed. A three-layer simulation model is proposed to reveal the transmission mechanism of CO2 from the gas-liquid layer to the microalgae cell membrane layer. Several parameters including CO2 diffusion coefficient, CO2 concentration profile and velocity profile of CO2 are analyzed to compare the performance of different membranes and working conditions. Then, for verification of the simulation work, AM-PBR experiments are designed. To further enhance the CO2 transmission and microalgae attached performance, different PVDF/PVP composite membranes are assessed. The carbon sequestration rate of the modified membrane is improved according to the experiments. Finally, the novel microalgae membrane photobioreactor with the modified PVDF/PVP membrane is developed and the carbon sequestration rate of the PBR system is improved. The results showed that the best ratio for PVDF and PVP is 2:1 with 20 wt% solution, and with this modified membrane the carbon sequestration rate of the PVDF/PVP-based AM-PBR is 18.61% higher than the original PVDF-based AM-PBRs. The proposed novel AM-PBR is especially useful for low-concentration CO2 direct air carbon capture.

Keywords: Microalgae; Membrane photobioreactor; PVDF/PVP composite membrane; Direct air carbon capture (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261922013903
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:appene:v:328:y:2022:i:c:s0306261922013903

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/bibliographic
http://www.elsevier. ... 405891/bibliographic

DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2022.120133

Access Statistics for this article

Applied Energy is currently edited by J. Yan

More articles in Applied Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().