FURI | Spring 2018

Enhancing Inorganic Carbon Absorption and Fixation by Cyanobacteria using Amine Absorbents

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The development of sustainable efforts to capture carbon dioxide emissions are important to mitigate the effects of climate change. Bioprocesses from cyanobacteria are a promising technology to fix CO2 into useful biofuels. Several issues limit the viability of this use, one of which is the low solubility of CO2 in water limiting the rate of initial CO2 capture. This project considers the effects of differing concentration of monoethanolamine as an absorbent to test higher growth rates and the limits of CO2 production in cyanobacteria culture. Other absorbents will be tested, provided there is available time and funding.

Student researcher

Portrait of Lee, Sara

Sara Lee

Chemical engineering

Hometown: Gilbert, Arizona

Graduation date: Spring 2019