ENHANCED PRACTICAL PHOTOSYNTHETIC CO2 MITIGATION
This quarterly report documents significant achievements in the Enhanced Practical Photosynthetic CO{sub 2} Mitigation project during the period from 1/3/2001 through 4/02/2002. Most of the achievements are milestones in our efforts to complete the tasks and subtasks that constitute the project objectives, and we are currently on schedule to complete Phase I activities by 10/2002, the milestone date from the original project timeline. As indicated in the list of accomplishments below, we are continuing to evaluate candidate organisms and growth surfaces, and we are expanding the test facilities in preparation for scaled up system-level testing. Specific results and accomplishments for the first quarter of 2002 include: Organisms and Growth Surfaces: (1) Isolate 1.2 s.c. (2) has been selected for further investigations because of its favorable growth properties. (2) Research on optimal conditions for the growth of cyanobacterial isolates from YNP should be carried out using distilled water which has more stable chemical parameters, although tap water use may be permissible during full scale operations (at the cost of longer organism doubling times). (3) Tr. 9.4 WF is able to generate a biofilm on an Omnisil surface. Over the long term Omnisil does not inhibit the growth of TR 9.4 isolate, though it does elongate the lag phase of growth of this isolate. (4) Initial survivability tests for the TR 9.4 organism on Omnisil screens in the CRF2 modelscale bioreactor are underway. We have experienced problems keeping the organisms alive for more than three days, but we are currently investigating several possible causes for this unexpected result. (5) Accelerated materials testing have shown that Omnisil fabric has acceptable strength properties for use in a practical bioreactor system. Bioreactor support systems and test facilities: (1) Several CO{sub 2} scrubbing experiments have been completed in the translating slug flow test system, however the error introduced by the original process for measuring CO{sub 2} concentration in the solution was so big that the resulting data was unreasonable. A new sampling method to prevent degassing of the liquid sample is being implemented, and a new set of tests has been scheduled for the week of 4/15/2002. (2) Qualitative harvesting tests of TR 9.4 on Omnisil have been completed but the results are inconclusive. Very little harvesting effect was observed with the current harvesting system design, but the results were greatly impacted by the minimal amount of organism growth on the screens at the time of the harvesting tests. Measures are being taken to extend the colonization time to achieve a screen loading condition that represents a more realistic harvesting condition, and additional tests will be run in the near future with these screens. (3) Significant work has been completed in the design of a new up-flow bioreactor test facility, using a vertical flow as expected in practical applications as opposed to the horizontal flow used for convenience in our current CRF test systems. (4) A reasonably priced location has been selected for the pilot scale bioreactor system, and construction can now proceed in order to prepare for the installation of the solar collectors and the bioreactor.
- Research Organization:
- Ohio University (US)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FC26-00NT40932
- OSTI ID:
- 813667
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: 15 Apr 2002
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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