we want to grow algae control in the absence of CO2. If we use synthetic air, do we need to continuously bubble it.
Dear Khawar,
The following answers to a similar question may be of help to you:
“Of course, one of the simplest possibilities to scavenge carbon dioxide from the inlet air of the aerobic bioreactor, would be to bubble the finely dispersed air stream trough a 'milk of lime' column, i.e. containing a saturated aqueous solution of Ca(OH)2 with excess Ca(OH)2(s) in suspension. Calcium carbonate would form by reaction of carbon dioxide with calcium hydroxide: Ca(OH)2(aq) + CO2(g) → CaCO3(s)↓ + H2O(l). The precipitated calcium carbonate could further react with excess of CO2: CaCO3(s) + H2O(l) + CO2(g) → Ca(HCO3)2(aq). The air stream would also become saturated in humidity for the temperature of the suspension. This approach might be directly applied for a pilot scale bioreactor. Considering a Petri dish (aerobic) culture, I think that the dishes could be closed and sealed with paraffin in CO2 free air obtained as above. For further CO2 absorption, as some CO2 could, in principle, be liberated to the Petri dish atmosphere during the course of the experiment, one could consider to use the upper dish for the culture gel (inverted) while keeping some convenient CO2scavenger (e.g. milk of lime) at the lower dish, but without contacting the culture media.” By Carlos Araújo Queiroz
“Carbosorb, marketed by Perkin Elmer, consists of solid pellets that bind carbon dioxide with a very high affinity. They are often used to trap radioactive CO2. If you have access to glass or plastic jars ('anaerobic jars') designed for anaerobic cultivation (e.g. with the GasPak system), you might put your plates in such a jar, fill it with air, stick in a sufficient amount of Carbosorb and close the jar.” By Jack T Pronk
Good luck!
Thanks! can bubbling CO2-free air or nitrogen in a flask to remove CO2 and hanging Carbsorb pellets in the flask is enough?
My guess is that active sparging would be much quicker than any passive arrangement and that you would need to do this continuously to limit the diffusive re-entry of CO2
Thanks a lot Paul! What if we hang Carbsorb in the flask to absorb CO2?
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