Gas‐liquid transfer of atmospheric CO₂ in microalgal cultures

Transfer of CO 2 in an aerated microalgal culture system has been studied. The CO 2 absorption rate was not visibly affected by the kinetics of the reactions occurring in the culture medium. Biomass concentration in the bioreactor, within the interval studied, did not significantly affect the overall volumetric coefficient of CO 2 transfer ( K 1a (CO 2 )). An expression has been proposed for the estimation of K 1a (CO 2 ) in the culture as a function of the effective power input to dispersion. Several empirical equations, found in the literature for estimation of the mass transfer parameters, were studied and those which best predicted experimental results are presented. The study concluded that empirical equations for a bubble diameter analogous to that found in the experiments should be used.