Application of power plant flue gas in a photobioreactor to grow Spirulina algae, and a bioactivity analysis of the algal water-soluble polysaccharides

摘要

A novel photobioreactor was developed with a total volume of 30m ~3 which required merely 100m ~3 of land footprint. The bioreactor was capable of utilizing CO _2 in the flue gas of a power plant as the carbon source for the growth of a freshwater alga, Spirulina platensis, mitigating the greenhouse effect caused by the same amount of CO _2 discharge. Results of the study indicated that the photobioreactor was capable of fixing 2,234kg of CO _2 per annum. Upon deducting the energy consumption of operating the bioreactor unit, the estimated amount of CO _2 to be fixed by a scaled-up reactor would be 74tonsha ~(-1)year ~(-1). In addition, the study prove that protein-free polysaccharides of S. platensis could induce the production of pro-IL-1 and IL-1 proteins through the mediation of ERK, JNK, and p38 MAPKs pathways. As a consequence, immunogenic activities of the macrophage cells were enhanced.