An evaluation of autotrophic microbes for the removal of carbon dioxide from combustion gas streams

Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that is believed to be a major contributor to global warming. Studies have shown that significant amounts of CO₂ are released into the atmosphere as a result of fossil fuels combustion. Therefore, considerable interest exists in effective and economical technologies for the removal of CO₂ from fossil fuel combustion gas streams. This work evaluated the use of autotrophic microbes for the removal of CO₂ from coal fired power plant combustion gas streams. The CO₂ removal rates of the following autotrophic microbes were determined: Chlorella pyrenoidosa, Euglena gracilis, Thiobacillus ferrooxidans, Aphanocapsa delicatissima, Isochrysis galbana, Phaodactylum tricornutum, Navicula tripunctata schizonemoids, Gomphonema parvulum, Surirella ovata ovata, and four algal consortia. Of those tested, Chlorella pyrenoidosa exhibited the highest removal rate with 2.6 g CO₂ per day per g dry weight of biomass being removed under optimized conditions. Extrapolation of these data indicated that to remove CO₂ from the combustion gases of a coal fired power plant burning 2.4 × 10⁴ metric tons of coal per day would require a bioreactor 386 km² × 1 m deep and would result in the production of 2.13 × 10⁵ metric tons (wet weight) of biomass per day. Based on these calculations, it was concluded that autotrophic CO₂ removal would not be feasible at most locations, and as a result, alternate technologies for CO₂ removal should be explored.