International Journal of Environmental Science and Development

Abstract—Many environmental issues of marine pollution and its causes and consequences were often learned from News. Algae in the ocean play the major role in the conversion of carbon dioxide into oxygen. This study used NaHCO₃ as a main carbon source to replace the two-percent-carbon-dioxide gas mixture that are often used in a large-scale algal field. The results show that the addition of 7.6 g/L NaHCO₃ obtains the best algal productivity and yield of about 4 g/L and 0.52 g/L/day, respectively. The shake-flask test shows that the cheap and easy-handling NaHCO₃ can be used as an alternative carbon source for replacement of CO₂ gas mixture in cultivation of microalgae and maintain the culture of effectiveness. In the thin flat-plate photo-bioreactor (FPPBR), designed to reduce the distance of the light pass, can solve the traditional drawback in the limit of the effective transmittance of light when cultured concentration increased, thereby inhibiting the growth of algae. The fed-batch FPPBR operated during 432 hr could reach a maximum algal concentration of 7.1 g/L in association with the periodical removal of substrate and nutrients (nitrate and phosphate) every three days. Its capacity for nitrate and phosphate were 0.22 g/m²/day and 0.15 g/m²/day, respectively referred to about 0.5-1.0 acre required for one-day spill for using FPPBR in the sea or in the adjacent coast area for treatment of an accidentally emitted domestic wastewater.

Index Terms—Estuary pollution, Nannochloropsis oculata, flat-plate photobioreactor.

Pei-Fen Wu is with the Green Energy and Environment Research Laboratories, Industrial Technology Research Institute, Hsinchu 310, Taiwan, ROC (e-mail: wpf@ itri.org.tw).
Sz-Chwun John Hwang and Cynthia Chun-Yu Hsieh are with the Department of Industrial Product Design, Chung Hua University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan, ROC (e-mail: sjh@ chu.edu.tw, ch0315@ arch.nctu.edu.tw).
Guan-You Lin was with the Department of Civil Engineering, Chung Hua University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan, ROC (e-mail: b09504072@chu.edu.tw).
Jiunn-Tzong Wu is with the Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei 115, Taiwan, ROC (e-mail: jtwu@gate.sinica.edu.tw).

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Cite: Pei-Fen Wu, Sz-Chwun John Hwang, Guan-You Lin, Jiunn-Tzong Wu, and Cynthia Chun-Yu Hsieh, "Application of the Thin Flat-Plate Photo-Bioreactor to the Removal of Nitrate and Phosphate Using Marine Nannochloropsis oculata," International Journal of Environmental Science and Development vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 59-64, 2016.