Assessment of the Impact of Salinity and Irradiance on the Combined Carbon Dioxide Sequestration and Carotenoids Production by Dunaliella salina: A Mathematical Model

Current anthropogenic activities have been causing a significant increase in the atmospheric concentration of CO2 over the past 60 years. To mitigate the consequent global warming problem, efficient technological Solutions, based on economical and technical grounds, are required. In this work, microalgae are studied as important biological systems of CO2 fixation into organic compounds through photosynthesis. These microorganisms are potential sources of a wide variety of interesting chemical compounds, which can be used for commercial purposes, reducing the cost of CO2 capture and sequestration. Specifically, Dunaliella salina culture was Studied aiming at the impact evaluation of operational conditions over cellular growth and carotenoid production associated with the CO2 sequestration oil focus. The main experimental parameter., investigated were salinity and irradiance conditions. The experimental results supported the development of a descriptive mathematical model of the process, Based oil the proposed model, a sensitivity analysis was carried out to investigate the operational conditions that maximize CO2 consumption and carotenoid production, in order to guide further development of technological routes for CO2 capture through microalgae. A preliminary cost estimation of CO2 sequestration combined to carotenoids production for a 200 MW power plant is presented, based on the growth rates achieved in this study.