MCA - Exploring Algal Carbon Capture Potential in High pH Laboratory- and Field-Scale Systems

MCA - 探索高 pH 实验室和现场规模系统中藻类碳捕获的潜力

• 批准号: 2219258
• 负责人: Mary Watson
• 金额: $ 25.99万
• 依托单位: Citadel Military College of South Carolina
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-06-15 至 2025-05-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2219258&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: MCA; Exploring; Algal; Carbon; Capture

Creative strategies are needed to manage atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) to mitigate the consequences of climate change. This research examines, through experiment and modeling, the potential of high pH algal cultures to maximize the amount of inorganic carbon (through dissolved carbon species derived from atmospheric CO2) available for conversion of CO2 to algal biomass. This biomass can then be used for other purposes, such as bio-diesel fuel. To date, high pH algal growth systems have not been adequately explored even though, at these conditions, carbon dioxide is chemically consumed at the air-water inference. To better understand the potential of the high pH/algal system, experiments and mathematical modeling of the data will be used to explore high pH/algal carbon capture processes, feasibility, and performance. The model can be used by researchers and practitioners to estimate the carbon offsets of large-scale cultures aimed at production of high-value produces (e.g., biofuels). Through model development, the research will clarify the role of carbonate and describe how total dissolved inorganic carbon species kinetically interact during algal growth. The impacts of nitrogen-source cycling as a natural, cost-effective strategy to manage pH and improve carbon capture will also be explored. Broader impacts of the work include benefits to society by supporting climate change management and workforce development through designing algal production systems that maximize atmospheric carbon dioxide removal. This can serve as part of an integrated carbon management plan to minimize a myriad of economic, ecological and social consequences of rising temperatures due to high concentrations of greenhouse gases. To carry out the work, students from underrepresented groups in the sciences will be actively recruited. This research entails experiments with mixed algal cultures and the primary product will be an expanded, validated, algal growth model for predicting algal biomass production and carbon capture as a function of interconnected parameters of total dissolved inorganic carbon aqueous species availability, nitrogen source type, and culture pH. High pH is being investigated because at high pH most dissolved total inorganic carbon is converted to dissolved carbonate, whose suitability as an inorganic carbon source has received little attention. Thus, this research seeks to expand and validate a mathematical model to quantify mixed freshwater algal growth in high pH systems to inform future carbon capture experiments. The experiments will be conducted at the Clemson University's Partitioned Aquaculture System. Project goals are to characterize and model total dissolved inorganic carbon-limited growth in batch reactors through the lens of four objectives, the first being to identify and quantify the accuracy of analytical methods for measuring inorganic carbon species at high pH. The second and third are to determine to what extent carbonate kinetically impacts algal growth and determine an appropriate formulation of the Monod-total dissolved inorganic carbon-limited growth rate of mixed culture algae. The fourth goal will be to quantitatively measure carbon capture by the algal cultures in open batch reactors, data that will be used to support model validation. An additional objective will be to explore how nitrogen source cycling could be used to manage pH for carbon capture in the culturing reactor so impacts of nitrogen on pH and biomass production can be estimated and to deliver estimates of carbon capture based on several nutrient loading scenarios. During the project, a graduate student and several additional students will be engaged.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

需要创造性的战略来管理大气中的二氧化碳，以减轻气候变化的后果。本研究探讨，通过实验和建模，高pH值藻类培养物的潜力，以最大限度地提高无机碳的量（通过溶解的碳物种来自大气CO2）可用于CO2转化为藻类生物质。这种生物质可以用于其他目的，如生物柴油燃料。迄今为止，高pH藻类生长系统尚未得到充分的探索，即使在这些条件下，二氧化碳在空气-水的干扰下被化学消耗。为了更好地了解高pH/藻类系统的潜力，将使用实验和数据的数学建模来探索高pH/藻类碳捕获过程、可行性和性能。 研究人员和从业人员可以使用该模型来估计旨在生产高价值产品的大规模文化的碳抵消（例如，生物燃料）。通过模型开发，研究将阐明碳酸盐的作用，并描述总溶解无机碳物种在藻类生长过程中如何动力学相互作用。还将探讨氮源循环作为一种自然的、具有成本效益的策略来管理pH值和改善碳捕获的影响。这项工作的更广泛影响包括通过设计最大限度地消除大气二氧化碳的藻类生产系统来支持气候变化管理和劳动力发展，从而为社会带来好处。这可以作为综合碳管理计划的一部分，以最大限度地减少由于温室气体高浓度而导致的气温上升所带来的各种经济、生态和社会后果。为了开展这项工作，将积极招募科学领域代表性不足群体的学生。这项研究需要混合藻类培养物的实验，主要产品将是一个扩展的，经过验证的藻类生长模型，用于预测藻类生物量生产和碳捕获，作为总溶解无机碳水溶液物种可用性，氮源类型和培养物pH值的相互关联参数的函数。正在研究高pH值，因为在高pH值下，大多数溶解的总无机碳转化为溶解的碳酸盐，其作为无机碳源的适用性很少受到关注。因此，这项研究旨在扩大和验证一个数学模型，以量化高pH值系统中混合淡水藻类的生长，为未来的碳捕获实验提供信息。实验将在克莱姆森大学的分区水生系统进行。项目目标是通过四个目标的透镜来表征和模拟间歇式反应器中总溶解无机碳的有限增长，第一个是确定和量化在高pH下测量无机碳物种的分析方法的准确性。第二个和第三个是确定碳酸盐在动力学上影响藻类生长的程度，并确定Monod总溶解无机碳的适当公式。混合培养藻类的生长速度有限。第四个目标将是定量测量开放式分批反应器中藻类培养物的碳捕获，这些数据将用于支持模型验证。另一个目标将是探索如何使用氮源循环来管理培养反应器中碳捕获的pH值，从而可以估计氮对pH值和生物量生产的影响，并根据几种营养负荷情景提供碳捕获的估计值。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。