Bench-Scale Cultivation of Microalgae Scenedesmus almeriensis for CO 2 Capture and Lutein Production

Antonio Molino, Sanjeet Mehariya, Despina Karatza, Simeone Chianese, Angela Iovine, Patrizia Casella, Tiziana Marino and Dino Musmarra
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Antonio Molino: ENEA, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Department of Sustainability-CR Portici. P. Enrico Fermi, 1, 80055 Portici (NA), Italy
Sanjeet Mehariya: ENEA, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Department of Sustainability-CR Portici. P. Enrico Fermi, 1, 80055 Portici (NA), Italy
Despina Karatza: Department of Engineering, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Real Casa dell’Annunziata, Via Roma 29, 81031 Aversa (CE), Italy
Simeone Chianese: Department of Engineering, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Real Casa dell’Annunziata, Via Roma 29, 81031 Aversa (CE), Italy
Angela Iovine: ENEA, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Department of Sustainability-CR Portici. P. Enrico Fermi, 1, 80055 Portici (NA), Italy
Patrizia Casella: ENEA, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Department of Sustainability-CR Portici. P. Enrico Fermi, 1, 80055 Portici (NA), Italy
Tiziana Marino: Department of Engineering, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Real Casa dell’Annunziata, Via Roma 29, 81031 Aversa (CE), Italy
Dino Musmarra: Department of Engineering, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Real Casa dell’Annunziata, Via Roma 29, 81031 Aversa (CE), Italy

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 14, 1-14

Abstract: In this study, Scenedesmus almeriensis as green microalga was cultivated on bench-scale for carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) capture and lutein production. The autotrophic cultivation of S. almeriensis was carried out by using a vertical bubble column photo-bioreactor (VBC-PBR) with a continuous flow of a gaseous mixture of oxygen (O 2 ), nitrogen (N 2 ), and CO 2 , the latter in content of 0.0–3.0 %v/v. The liquid phase was batch. S. almeriensis growth was optimized. In addition, lutein extraction was carried out by using accelerated solvent extraction with ethanol as Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) solvent at 67 °C and 10 MPa. Upon optimization of CO 2 concentration, the maximum biomass productivity, equal to 129.24 mg·L ?1 ·d ?1 , was achieved during the cultivation by using a content of CO 2 equal to 3.0 %v/v and it allowed to obtain a lutein content of 8.54 mg·g ?1 , which was 5.6-fold higher in comparison to the analogous process carried out without CO 2 addition. The ion chemical analysis in the growth medium showed that by gradually increasing CO 2 content, the nutrient consumption during the growth phase also increased. This study may be of potential interest for lutein extraction at industrial scale, since it is focused on pigment production from a natural source with a concomitantly CO 2 capture.

Keywords: microalgae; autotrophic cultivation; lutein; nutraceutical; accelerated solvent extraction; generally recognized as safe (GRAS) solvent; CO 2 capture rate; CO 2 conversion efficiency (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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