BIOLOGICAL CO2 UTILIZATION IN COAL-FIRED

POWER PLANT: INDUSTRIAL PERSPECTIVES

Dr.K. Sudhakar,Ruma Arora Soni
Energy Centre, National Institute of Technology, Bhopal, M.P, India.
*Corresponding author email: [email protected]
Contact no: +91-7566602579

Abstract : A promising organic answer for the usage and transformation of CO2 from a
power plant into suitable monetary items are examined in this study. Algae requires high
convergence of carbon dioxide and nitrogen dioxide. These poisons can serve as better
supplements for the algae which are discharged via vehicles, big plants, distilleries, manure
plants, steel plants. The biotechnology of microalgae creation is isolated into the
accompanying sorts as development frameworks, open race way ponds and PBRs with
related reaping and handling hardware and the wetware in which just the particular algae
species and strains being developed. Algae based Carbon Capture innovation might be
alluded as utilizing algae for diminishing the CO2 fixation in the air. The algae generation in
this way can be bolstered with the fumes gasses or the toxins from these plants which can
fundamentally build the algal growth efficiency and tidying up the air. Moreover biofuels or
biodiesel can be handled from the oil found in algae. Side effects that can be acquired from
algae incorporates, Ethanol and livestock.

This innovation offers a sheltered and economical answer for the issues connected
with an unnatural weather change. The quality included items that can be created from these
innovations are: biomass (high and poor quality), biomass determined items (pharmaceutical,
compound or nutritious), union gas (methanol, fuel and substance generation), claim to fame
items (extricated utilizing supercritical innovation), natural carbonates (straight, cyclic or
polycarbonates), carboxylates (formic corrosive, oxalic corrosive, and so on), salicylic
corrosive and urea.

Keywords : Microalgae, Carbon capture, biofuels, carbondioxide sequestration

Introduction :
Biological C02 Mitigation Options
Photosynthetic processes can convert C02 into biomass, which further can be used or in turn
converted to biomass fuels that can replace fossil fuels, for electricity production or in different
economical sectors as transportation [1]. Plant photosynthesis is reported as a major world-wide
source of fuels, with biomass fuels representing about 15% of all primary energy consumption [2].
Biomass fuels could displace a major fraction of current fossil fuel consumption, particularly if C0 2
mitigation were to become a policy and economic goal. Biomass production takes place in the
presence of atmospheric levels of C02, the concentrated C02 present in flue gases is not required.
Nevertheless, it is well known that plants exhibit higher productivities under elevated levels of C0 2. In
greenhouses, elevated levels of C02 are routinely used to increase plant production. The cultivation of
algae, both the seaweeds and the smaller rnicroalgae, requires an enriched source of C0 2, as the
transport of C02 from the atmosphere into the growth ponds is not sufficient to support their growth.

Carbon Capture and Storage

In recent years, a few distinctive ways to deal with catching and sequestring carbon dioxide
have developed and contemplated as potential environmental change relief alternatives[3].
The most noticeable and effective methodologies can be assembled among three
classifications.

- Biological stockpiling or Biological Carbon sequestration

- Ocean stockpiling

- Geologic stockpiling

Organic carbon storage includes upgrading the characteristic photosynthetic

procedure whereby air carbon dioxide is taken up by green plants and changed over to natural
carbon has gotten more consideration. Alternate advantages connected with endeavours to
upgrade natural carbon stockpiling and the negligible negative ecological effects, organic
carbon storage has been generally acknowledged and upheld inside of the ecological group.

The second approach to carbon storage involves storing CO2 captured from power
plants in oceans. Hypothetically this methodology is engaging as the oceans have the ability
to store the greater part of the CO2 that is at present being discharged into the climate,
however worries about the environmental effects of quickening the seas uptake of CO2 by
infusing it into the seas have restricted exploration and headway of this methodology[4-5].
 The third approach Geological stockpiling of carbon, including the infusion of storing
CO2 into underground geographical supplies is the methodology that has risen in the
previous five years with the best potential to settle climatic CO2 outflows. The CO2 gas is
caught and thus put away in an underground land repository[4-5].

Among above methodologies organic carbon storage includes the slightest innovation
and is the most effortlessly caught on. The thought of planting trees as an approach to
moderate environmental change has been proposed as of now, and this thought resounds with
those worried about nature to some degree because of other related ecological advantages of
encouraging woodland development.

Capturing and recycling of CO2

For microalgae, water, supplements and carbon dioxide are key to development. The
atmospheric CO2 focus restrains the development of microalgae. In this way a modest
wellspring of CO2 to fuel their photosynthesis procedure is required[6]. Industrial and power
plants terminated with fossil fuels could be such a source including additional incomes from
greenhouse gasses decrease to microalgae growth.

Figure 1. Carbon Algae Recycling System [7]

In the event that the motivation behind algae growth development is to sequester the
mechanical CO2 yields of fossil fuelled power plants, it must be considered, that amid the
night the algae moderate down their generation rate and along these lines take up less CO2.
This would require the installation of gas storage facilities to adapt to the deluge of CO2
amid night[8].
Figure 2. Schematic diagram of algae process.[3]

It ought to be noticed that the measures of CO2 expended for making the chemical products
are moderately low, but the advantages of the value-added products and the environment
friendly processing plus the CO2 avoidance compared to the conventional energy intensive or
hazardous processes make CO2 utilization an important option in CO2 management[9-10]
The fundamental areas of interests were microalgae biomass creation (lake and bioreactor
generation), obsession of CO2 into natural mixes (creation of different substance items), and
direct use of CO2. Carbon dioxide must be caught, cleaned and focused before livelihood in
most use strategies .The achievability of these procedures was assessed by thermodynamics,
energetics, creation rates and yields, item values and financial aspects.

CO2 mitigation strategies for industries:

Carbon sequestration may be defined as the capture and secure storage of carbon that would
otherwise be emitted to, or remain in the atmosphere [11].CO2 emission into the atmosphere
can be reduced by following three ways[12]:

(i) By reducing energy intensity use,

(ii) By reducing carbon intensity use, and
(iii)By enhancing the sequestration of carbondioxide.

The first way requires efficient use of energy and the second one refers to the use of non-
fossil fuels and the third option involves technologies to capture and reuse the CO 2.

Table 1:Comparison of the growth characteristics and CO2 fixation performance of

microalgae strains under different CO2 concentrations, temperature and NOx/Sox contents.
 Biomass
Temperature NOx/Sox CO2 consumption
Microalgae species CO2(%) Productivity
(0C) (mg/L) rate (mg/l/d)
(mg/L/d)
Nannochloris
15 25 0/50 350 658
species
Nannochloropsis
15 25 0/50 300 564
species
Chlorella species 50 35 60/20 950 1790
Not
Chlorella species 20 40 700 1316
Specified
Not
Chlorella species 50 25 386 725
Specified
Chlorella species 15 25 0/60 1000 1880
Not
Chlorella species 50 25 500 940
Specified
Not
Chlorogleopsis 5 50 40 20.45
Specified
Chlorococcum Not
50 22 44 82
littorale Specified

Industrial exhaust gases contain about 10 - 20% CO2[13],with small amounts of SOx and
NOx. Some strains are inhibited by CO2 when NOx is present whereas cannot be inhibited
with <50 ppm SOx [13-15]. By chemical desulfurization method Sox can be easily
eliminated from the flue gas whereas removal of NOx is bit difficult as it is less soluble in
the liquid phase. Table 1 shows some microalgae species that are tolerant to high-
temperatures, high CO2 concentrations and toxity with NOx and Sox compounds [13]. The
selection of suitable microalgae strains for CO2 mitigation has significant effect on efficacy
and cost competitiveness of the bio-mitigation process.

Biological Utilization:
Using biological systems to trap CO2 from the power plant burning fossil fuel seems the
most attractive with regard to potentially positive ecological results. There are certain water
submerged microalgal species with a very high growth rate to be used by industries, for
trapping and also for the utilization of CO2 through conversion microalgae biomass into
fuel.
With the increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels, global warming has become a
major focus of the environmental agenda. The United States CO2 production is on a rise from
the already approximately 5.56 billion tons per year from coal-burning power plants.[16] This
ratio of CO2 is equivalent to about 21% of the entire world’s CO2 production. The flue gases
composition from power plants may vary slightly with the specific fuel type and the amount
of air used in combustion.The flue gas compositions with different fuel sources consists of
approximately 10% CO2.[17] flue gas concentrations of up to 20% have been measured when
coal is burned.[18] The biotechnology of using microalgae in a photobioreactor has
extensively been studied since long back for reducing the the quantity of CO2 in atmosphere.
With the biological approach, CO2 is converted into algal biomass and then into value-added
products such as proteins, vitamins, food, and feeds. The concept of using outdoor
macroalgal cultures in ponds, lakes, oceans or land has been proposed as a method to reduce
CO2 emissions.[19] However, it is difficult to optimize algal growth in an open pond,
resulting in low productivity of the process. The outdoor systems mainly struggle with low
productivity, whereas closed photobioreactors may result in higher productivity without
causing any more environmental issues.[20-21] The use of photobioreactors for microalgal
carbondioxide sequestration offers the major advantages of increased microalgae productivity
with controlled environmental conditions, and optimized space or volume utilization and,
thus, more efficient use of costly land. Closed photobioreactors can more readily control
environmental conditions (temperature, oxygen, and nutrients) than open cultures. Although
CO2 from exhaust gases cannot be controlled because CO2 is usually bubbled through the
reactor with the excess CO2 being emitted to the atmosphere, and the CO2 concentration and
temperature vary with the combustion conditions of the power plant.
Selection of microalgae species:
Several thousands of species of microalgae exist. They can be grouped into four different
categories:
(i) Cyanobacteria,
(ii) Rhodophytes,
(iii) Chlorophytes,
(iv) Chromophytes
A considerable lot of these species have been effectively developed in photobioreactors to
create an assortment of products. The most widely recognized species concentrated on are
Chlorella sp. also, Spirulina sp., decided for their strength, profitability, and nontoxicity.
Diverse microalgae species require distinctive living conditions [6][8-9]. A few algal groups
favour more acidic conditions, as Galderia sp. also, Viridella sp., while others develop best in
basic or somewhat neutral media, for example, Chlorococcum and Synechococcus lividus.
The species that survive best in acidic conditions are for the most part more tolerant to high
CO2 fixations, since CO2 brings down the pH of a solution. The microalgae with the most
limited doubling times, similar to Chlorella and Synechococcus lividus, are the ones with the
most part higher profitability, essentially they become relatively speedier than different
species.
Table 2 : Co2 tolerance of various species
Species Known Maximum CO2 Concentration References
Cyanidium caldarium 100% [22]
Scendesmus species 80% [23]
Chlorococcum Littorale 60% [24]
Synechococcus elongatus 60% [25]
Euglena gracilis 45% [26]
Chlorella Species 40% [27]
Eudorina species 20% [28]
Nannochloris species 15% [29]
Spirulina species 10% [30]

Chlorella Nannochloropsis

Chlamydomonas Spirulina
Figure 3. Various Microalgae: The most abundant natural source.
Microalgae and seaweed for CO2 fixation/ utilization

Microalgae are the potential wellspring of nourishment, food, polymer, supplements. It

devours 1.7-2 Kg CO2 to deliver 1 Kg biomass so it go about as great CO2 scrubber. Algae
biomass can use as potential hotspot for green fuel creation, which will help the high vitality
interest of the world. Microalgae can be segregated from different assorted sources, including
streams, lakes, and ponds, springs, soil, and seawater, essentially any place on the planet,
Carbon dioxide from different modern sources (power plants, compound commercial
ventures, etc.)Can changed over to biomass utilizing algal mass society lake frameworks. The
primary point of interest of utilizing pond frameworks is that the innovation is exceptionally
understood and different business frameworks as of now exist. Algal pond frameworks are
presently the most monetary strategy to create biomass on a vast scale. The items got from
algal mass society can be of high esteem. Natural use of CO 2 utilizing microalgae is a
monetarily helpful strategy to utilize greenhouse gas discharges to produce esteem value.
Microalgae have a higher limit for CO2 usage through photosynthesis than higher order
plants, for example, trees, shrubs and grasses.
Value-added products
The absence of support structures, such as roots and stems, allows for a larger fraction of the
microalgae to be used to create desired products compared to other types of biomass. There is
a broad range of valuable products that can be harvested from the production of biomass[31-
32]. The type and quality of product obtained depends on the species of microalgae, growing
conditions, and recovery methods implemented. The utilization areas of microalgae can be
divided into three categories:
- Energy – production of substances such as hydrocarbons, hydrogen, methanol, etc.
- Foods and chemicals – e.g., proteins, oils and fats, sterols, carbohydrates, sugars,
alcohols, etc.
- Other chemicals – e.g., dyes, perfumes, vitamins/supplements, etc.
One type of microalgae, cyanobacteria or blue-green algae, has been studied extensively
because of its many valuable products. The edible species include Nostoc, Spirulina, and
Aphanizomenon, which can be used as a raw, unprocessed food as they are rich in carotenoid,
chlorophyll, phycocyanin, amino acids, minerals, and bioactive compounds[33-35]
Industrial Strategies

Major Factor: CO2 aeration rate and light intensity .Enhancement of light utilization
efficiency is substantial to obtain higher CO2 fixation ability:
-increase surface area
-shortening the light path and layer thickness
-using genetic engineering
-Improvement of CO2 transport efficiency
-Getting the extensive air/liquid interface area
-Increase mixing time/intensity
-Maintain CO2/02 balance
-Increasing turbulence
-Stripping the culture medium with air or inert gas
CO2 fixation rate of microalgae are lower than the available physicochemical methods[36-
37].

Carbon dioxide sequestration through photobioreactors

Different Photobioreactors are designed and used for microalgae cultivation can be classified
as open systems or closed systems. Open systems may be ponds, constructed on the large
open areas, in rows with growth medium exposed to environment and sunlight. Closed
systems are those where conditions are controlled. Closed system have many advantages over
open system, as they can’t be controlled easily and, gets easily contaminated from external
environment and could cause the microalgae mutate. Closed systems are easy to monitor, less
chances of contamination occupy less space for the same algal growth. Closed system
photobioreactor can be classified as follows:

 Tubular photo-bioreactors
 Mechanically stirred photo-bioreactors
 Airlift photo-bioreactors
 Bubble column photo-bioreactors

Major Problems

The major problems faced by companies implementing algae based CO 2 sequestration

techniques are[38-39]:

The high cost of infrastructure

The limited availability of land space near power plants

Specific operational problems as well as inefficiencies

High CO2 concentrations cause the algae suspension to become acidic, thereby stunting algae
growth.

Conclusion
In this study, it was resolved that CO2 obsession utilizing miniaturized scale algal species is
exceptionally encouraging and contending elective innovations to traditional sequestration.
The different angles connected with the outline of microalgae generation units (photograph
bioreactors and open ponds) are to be concentrated on in subtle element because of the flue
gas processing (e.g., mercury, arsenic, and particulate evacuation, and so forth.) that must be
performed preceding misuse; CO2 usage straight forwardly from a coal-terminated power
plant is not as of now attainable with the accessible advances. In spite of just a little rate of
CO2 being used when contrasted with the aggregate sum radiated by a 500 MW power plant,
CO2 sequestration by microalgae are suggested for the formation of quality from CO2.
Microalgae development for CO2 sequestration is more possible than topographical
sequestration it helps in keeping up ecological adjust in this way lessening the risk of a
dangerous atmospheric devation.
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