evaluating algal growth at different temperatures

59 Pages·2016·1.12 MB·English

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Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and
Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering
Agricultural Engineering
2011
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Keelin Owen Cassidy
University of Kentucky, [email protected]
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Cassidy, Keelin Owen, "EVALUATING ALGAL GROWTH AT DIFFERENT TEMPERATURES" (2011). Theses
and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering. 3.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/bae_etds/3
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Keelin Owen Cassidy, Student
Dr. C. L. Crofcheck, Major Professor
Dr. Dwayne Edwards, Director of Graduate Studies
EVALUATING ALGAL GROWTH AT DIFFERENT TEMPERATURES

_____________________________________

THESIS
_____________________________________

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Master of Science in
Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering in
the College of Engineering at the University of Kentucky

By
Keelin Owen Cassidy
Lexington, Kentucky
Director: Dr. C. L. Crofcheck,
Associate Professor of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering
Lexington, Kentucky
2011
Copyright © Keelin Owen Cassidy 2011

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ABSTRACT OF THESIS

EVALUATING ALGAL GROWTH AT DIFFERENT TEMPERATURES

In recent years, there has been a concern for the amount of carbon dioxide released into
the atmosphere and how it will be captured. One way to capture carbon dioxide is with
algae. In this study, algae's growth was measured at different temperatures. The first part
of the study was to grow Scenedesmus and Chlorella with M8 or urea growth media at a
temperature of 25, 30 or 35ºC. It was found that 30ºC had the best growth rates for both
algae. The second part studied Scenedesmus growth with urea, more in-depth, and found
the optimum growth temperature to be 27.5ºC with a growth rate of 0.29 1/hr. The last
part of the study was a heat transfer model which predicted the temperature of a
greenhouse and an outdoor unit. The model could also predict the growth rate of the algae
and the temperature if flue gas is mixed in with the algae.

KEYWORDS: algae, CO mitigation, Chlorella vulgaris, Scenedesmus, temperature
2

Keelin Owen Cassidy
December 1, 2011

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EVALUATING ALGAL GROWTH AT DIFFERENT TEMPERATURES

By

Keelin Owen Cassidy

Czarena Crofcheck
Director of Thesis

Dwayne Edwards
Director of Graduate Studies
December 1, 2011

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To Team Algae:
(Dr. Czarena Crofcheck, Aubrey Shea, Sarah Short, Tabitha Graham,
Ian Colten, and Maya Bentley)
Without them algae would just be pond scum.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank my parents, George and Sheilagh Duncan. If it weren’t for their
love, encouragement, and support I would not be where I am today.
Thank you, Dr. Czar Crofcheck. If it weren’t for your love of candy, I would have never
made it to Kentucky. Ok I’m kidding, but seriously, thank you Dr. Crofcheck for this
opportunity to study at the University of Kentucky. This opportunity has taught me a lot
about algae and about myself. I have also enjoyed working and getting to know you.
I would also like to thank Aubrey Shea. Thank you for everything from answering all my
question and lending an ear when I needed one. You have been a great friend.
Thank you, Alicia Modenbach, for being a great officemate. You listened to my crazy
adventures (like my retirement plan), drama, and provided a tissue when the going was
getting tough; so thank you. There will never be an officemate like you.
For Dr. Mike Montross, thank you for your help when I needed it and joining us at
“seminar”. It was great getting to know you and having a good laugh while hanging out
in the lab.
Thank you, Dr. Caye Drapcho, for giving me the confidence in knowing I can do this.
You have been great mentor and a friend.
Thank you to Maya Bentley, Ian Colten, Tabitha Graham, Sarah Short, and Aaron Turner
for your help even when it was just small chit chat about algae.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. iii
Table of Contents .............................................................................................................. iv
List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... vi
List of Figures .................................................................................................................. vii
Chapter 1 : Introduction .................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Flue Gas ................................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Current Research on Capturing CO ................................................................... 2
2
1.3 Selection of Algae .................................................................................................... 3
1.3.1 Algae Strains ...................................................................................................... 4
1.3.2 Autotrophic versus Heterotrophic ...................................................................... 5
1.3.3 Light Requirements ............................................................................................ 6
1.3.4 Temperature Requirements ................................................................................ 6
1.4 Past uses of algae ..................................................................................................... 7
1.5 Research Objectives ................................................................................................ 7
Chapter 2 : Materials and Methods ................................................................................... 9
2.1 Algae culture and media preparation ................................................................... 9
2.2 Experimental Set Up ............................................................................................... 9
2.3 Analytical Methods ............................................................................................... 13
2.4 Growth Rate .......................................................................................................... 15
Chapter 3 : Temperature Experiments ............................................................................ 17
3.1 Varying Strains and Media Results ....................................................................... 17
3.2 Scenedesmus and Urea Media Results ................................................................ 20
Chapter 4 : The Model ..................................................................................................... 23
4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 23
4.2 The Flue Gas Energy Balance .............................................................................. 23
4.2.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 23
4.2.2 Assumptions ..................................................................................................... 25
4.2.3 The energy balance .......................................................................................... 25
4.3 The Greenhouse Model......................................................................................... 25
4.3.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 25
4.3.2 Assumptions ..................................................................................................... 26
4.3.3 The Greenhouse Model .................................................................................... 27
4.3.4 Results .............................................................................................................. 28
Chapter 5 : Conclusions .................................................................................................. 34
Chapter 6 : Future Work ................................................................................................. 35
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Appendices ........................................................................................................................ 36
Appendix A: Model Development Data .................................................................... 36
Appendix B: Temperature Experiment Protocol..................................................... 39
Appendix C: Calibration of Equipment ................................................................... 41
References ........................................................................................................................ 43
Vita .................................................................................................................................... 47

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LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1. Growth medium composition. .......................................................................... 9
Table 3.1. Gradient experiment growth rates (µ) and standard error (Stan Err) with n=3
for both Scenedesmus (Sc) and Chlorella vulgaris (Ch). ................................................. 18
Table 3.2. ANOVA table of the main effects of Chlorella and Scenedesmus. ................. 19
Table 3.3. ANOVA for Chlorella ..................................................................................... 19
Table 3.4. ANOVA for Scenedesmus ............................................................................... 19
Table 3.5. The p-value of difference in temperature for Scenedesmus and Chlorella. ..... 20
Table 3.6. Scenedesmus growth rates for various temperature standard errors. ............... 21
Table 3.7. Pairwise comparison for Scenedesmus grown on urea. Bold p-values indicate
the two treatments are significantly different with α = 0.05. ............................................ 21
Table 4.1. Constants for the greenhouse model. ............................................................... 28
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