| Summary: | Despite the many advantages of microalgae, the feasibility of large-scale cultivation requires significant amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) to enable high growth rates. A synergistic union typically proposed for the supply of CO2 is the coupling of algal cultivation with emissions from power plants. This study investigates the sustainability of a novel microalgae platform coupled with coal-based flue gas. The proposed system consists of a novel photobioreactor (PBR) for the production of biomass followed by a two-stage dewatering process. A systems model, which quantifies the CO2 and energy consumption of the proposed system, was developed, and the minimum biomass selling price (MBSP) was determined by a techno-economic analysis (TEA). TEA results indicate that a facility with the capacity to capture 30% of the emissions from a 1-MW power plant requires a biomass production of 1280 metric ton per year, which when scaled to a nth of kind facility can produce biomass at a MBSP of
|
|---|
