Effect of Culture Conditions on Production of Useful Materials by Haematococcus Pluvialis

Abstract

In recent years, global warning due to increase in CO₂ concentration in the air is feared. To solve this problem, the use of biomass has been considered. In particular, we have paid attention to a microalgae which can photosynthesize. The microalgae not only remove CO₂ but also transform CO₂ into useful organic materials.
The purpose of this study is to construct the process where CO₂ removal and useful material production by the microalgae, Haematococcus pluvialis, were performed at the same time.
When the air containing CO₂ was used, the microalgae photosynthesis ability was heightened, and the growth of the microalgae was much promoted than those when using only air. Along with this, useful material production was promoted. When CO₂ concentration in the air was increased highly, the growth of the microalgae was restrained. As the result, the optimum condition of CO₂ concentration in the air was 5% from the view point of both useful materials production and microalgae growth.
When the flow rate was increased, the culture time could be shortened. However when the flow rate was increased too highly, the growth of the microalgae was restrained. From this result, the optimum condition of the flow rate was found to be 150 cm³/min.