COUPLING OF SPIRULINA BIOMASS PRODUCTION IN RAINWATER AND SEAWATER AND REMOVAL OF CO2

Abstract

Seawater and rainwater are two abundant water sources in Vietnam. Sprirulina thrives in the
environment rich in bicarbonate and needs a lot of water to grow. Furthermore, this algae is capable
of converting CO2 with a rate of ten folds higher than plants and produces highly nutrious biomass
containing proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids. Thus coupling production of Spirulina in seawater and
rainwater with treatment of CO2, a greenhouse gas contributes a sustainable environmental
significance, at the same time producing algae rich biomass applied for many other industries. The
results of the research showed that Spirulina SP2 and Spirulina SP4 grew very well in the rain water
medium, however SP2 and SP4 only grew from two-times dilution seawater due to its high salinity.
Nutritional supplements for two media leaded to increased growth of the two algal strains and
increased CO2 removal efficiency of appromimately 50 folds. Biomass produced by SP2 and SP4 in the
two media are rich in protein, with content of over 70%, proving enormous potential of the SP2 and
SP4 in applications for fixation of industrial CO2 emissions and production of nutrient-rich biomass.