Method for carbon resource utilization

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11193100-B2
Application number	US-201916658454-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 21, 2019
Priority date	Jan 25, 2019
Publication date	Dec 7, 2021
Grant date	Dec 7, 2021

Abstract

A method for carbon resource utilization is disclosed. According to one embodiment, the method includes (a) supplying carbon dioxide to a medium to form bicarbonate ions (HCO3−) (S100), (b) inoculating one or more microalgal species into the medium, followed by photo-culture (S200), and (c) supplying calcium ions (Ca2+) to the medium, where the microalgal species are photo-cultured, to produce calcite (CaCO3)-containing biomass (S300).

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for carbon resource utilization comprising:
(a) supplying carbon dioxide to a medium to form bicarbonate ions (HCO 3 − );
(b) inoculating one or more microalgal species into the medium, followed by photo-culture;
(c) supplying calcium ions (Ca 2+ ) to the medium;
(d) primarily supplying a first basic solution to maintain pH of the medium at 7.5 to 8.5 such that biomineralization is induced, after supply of the calcium ions in step (c); and
(e) secondarily supplying a second basic solution to induce both biomineralization and chemical mineralization after the primarily supplying the basic solution,
wherein the one or more microalgal species are photo-cultured, to produce calcite (CaCO 3 )-containing biomass.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the calcium ions are bound to cell walls of the one or more microalgal species and react with the bicarbonate ions to produce calcite, and the one or more microalgal species adhere to one another through nonpolar covalent bonds between calcite particles to produce biomass.

3. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising supplying a third basic solution to the medium to maintain the pH of the medium at 7.0 to 8.5 between steps (a) and (b).

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the third basic solution is an 8 to 10 mM aqueous potassium hydroxide (KOH) solution.

5. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the third basic solution is a solution of at least one base selected from the group consisting of sodium hydroxide (NaOH), potassium hydroxide (KOH), ammonia (NH 4 OH), calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH) 2 ), and magnesium hydroxide (Mg(OH) 2 ).

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more microalgal species are selected from the group consisting of Chlorella vulgaris, Chlorella sorokiniana, Spirurlina sp., Dunaliella sp., Haematococcus pluvialis, Schizochytrium sp., Crypthecodinium sp., Chlamydomonas sp., Neochloris sp., Aphanizomenon sp., and Cyanobacterium sp.

7. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising stopping the supplying the carbon dioxide to the medium to flocculate and collect the biomass after step (c).

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the calcium ions are supplied by adding an aqueous calcium chloride (CaCl 2 ) solution to the medium.

9. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the aqueous calcium chloride solution has a concentration of 0.03 to 0.06 M.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first basic solution is an aqueous potassium hydroxide (KOH) solution having a concentration not higher than 20 mM.

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the second basic solution is an aqueous potassium hydroxide (KOH) solution having a concentration not higher than 40 mM.

12. The method according to claim 1 , wherein step (c) is carried out when the one or more microalgal species are photo-cultured to a density of at least 1.0 g/I.

13. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the calcite comprises nanoparticles.

Assignees

• Univ Korea Res & Bus Found

Inventors

• Sim Sang Jun
• Yu Byung Sun
• Hong Min Eui

Classifications

• C12P3/00 Primary

  Preparation of elements or inorganic compounds except carbon dioxide {(recovery of carbon dioxides as by-products C12F3/02)} · CPC title

• C12N1/12

  Unicellular algae; Culture media therefor (as new plants A01H13/00) · CPC title

• B82Y5/00

  Nanobiotechnology or nanomedicine, e.g. protein engineering or drug delivery · CPC title

• C12M21/02 Primary

  Photobioreactors (culturing algae A01G33/00, A01H4/001, C12N1/12) · CPC title