Effect of light Intensity and photoperiod on growth of Chlorella pyrenoidosa and CO2 Biofixation

¹ Post graduate program of Environmental Science, Universitas Riau, Pekanbaru, Riau, Indonesia
² Post graduate program of Environmental Science, Universitas Riau, Pekanbaru, Riau, Indonesia
³ Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Riau, Pekanbaru, Riau, Indonesia

^* Corresponding author: tjg@consultant.com

Abstract

Microalgae have been viewed as one of potential solution for CO₂ biofixation or CO₂ sequestration. However, many factors need to be evaluated to support development of CO₂ biofixation. One important environmental factor for the growth of micro algae is related with light requirement. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of light intensity and photoperiod on growth of Chlorellapyrenoidosa (C.pyrenoidosa) and CO₂ biofixation. Experiments were carried out in 1000 mL semi batch photo bioreactors, purged continuously with air (0.034% CO₂). An Experiment of Factorial Design was employed in which the light intensity was evaluated 4 level at 2000, 4000, 6000 and 8000 lux with 3 level of photo period at L/D (light /dark) 8 hours/16 hours; L/D 12 hours/12 hours and L/D 16 hours/8 hours. The result indicated that both light intensity and photo period had significant effect (p< 0.05) on growth of C. pyrenoidosa. However, the photo period showed stronger effect relative to light intensity on growth of C.pyrenoidosa within the range reviewed. The interaction between the two factors was indicative but statistically not significant. Best growth profile sustained at combination of L/D 16 hours/8 hours of photoperiod and light intensity of 8000 lux with the highest average biomass observed at 0.516 ± 0.069gr/L. An increase in CO₂biofixation rate of around 2 times was also observed between highest setting (8000 lux; L/D 16/12 hours) relative to that of lowest setting (2000 lux; L/D 8/12 hours).