Two-stage carbon sequestration by Haematococcus pluvialis: Integrated research from small-scale to pilot-scale cultivation and data quality monitoring

Shuai Guo; Feng Li; Jun Wang; Hantao Zhou; Ziyi Yuan; Renjing Yang; Hongwei Ke; Haifeng Chen; Chunhui Wang; Minggang Cai

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2024.131828

Two-stage carbon sequestration by Haematococcus pluvialis: Integrated research from small-scale to pilot-scale cultivation and data quality monitoring

Bioresour Technol. 2024 Nov 13:131828. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2024.131828. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Shuai Guo¹, Feng Li², Jun Wang³, Hantao Zhou⁴, Ziyi Yuan¹, Renjing Yang⁵, Hongwei Ke¹, Haifeng Chen⁵, Chunhui Wang¹, Minggang Cai⁶

Affiliations

¹ Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Chemistry and Applied Technology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China; College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China.
² Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Chemistry and Applied Technology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China; College of Fisheries, Guangdong Ocean University, Guangdong 524088, China.
³ Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Chemistry and Applied Technology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China; Department of Biological Technology, Xiamen Ocean Vocational College, Xiamen 361102, China.
⁴ College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China.
⁵ Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Innovative Drug Target, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361002, China.
⁶ Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Chemistry and Applied Technology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China; Department of Biological Technology, Xiamen Ocean Vocational College, Xiamen 361102, China; College of Fisheries, Guangdong Ocean University, Guangdong 524088, China; College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 39547301
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2024.131828

Abstract

A novel two-stage carbon sequestration strategy (3 % and 10 % CO₂) was developed and its feasibility was comprehensively demonstrated by multiple methods (pilot-scale cultivation, kinetics, economics and carbon fixation analysis). It was also a safe, efficient and low-cost harvesting strategy. At the end of the culture, astaxanthin production and content increased 2.3 and 2.2 times, respectively. Sedimentation rate (SR) was introduced for the first time to evaluate microalgae culture methods. The SR reached 82.2 % after 2 h of standing. Pilot-scale cultivation was achieved outdoors, with the optimal photobioreactor being a 40 L tubular photobioreactor (T-PBRs), which individually achieved 3.1 g/L and 2.3 % biomass and astaxanthin content. The maximum rate of carbon sequestration (227.9 mg/L/d) was observed in 40 L T-PBRs. The cost of producing 1 kg of astaxanthin-enriched Haematococcus pluvialis (H. pluvialis) was only 17.5 USD. This study brings new perspectives to carbon sequestration and the development of astaxanthin markets.

Keywords: Astaxanthin; Biological carbon sequestration; Economic evaluation; Growth kinetics; Scale cultivation.