Biomass of algae growth on natural water medium

• We established an efficient, inexpensive and ecological process for algae growth.
• We showed the potential of CO2 fixation by algae using natural water medium.
• We focused on the bio-fixation of microalgae to utilize the atmospheric CO2 directly.
• We demonstrated natural water medium is alternative for biomass production.

Algae are the dominant primary producers in aquatic ecosystems. Since algae are highly varied group organisms, which have important functions in ecosystem, and their biomass is an essential biological resource. Currently, algae have been applied increasingly to diverse range of biomass applications. Therefore, this study was aimed to investigate the ecological algae features of microalgal production by natural medium, ecological function by lab scale of the symbiotic reactor which is imitated nature ecosystem, and atmospheric CO2 absorption that was related the algal growth of biomass to understand algae in natural water body better. Consequently, this study took advantages of using the unsupplemented freshwater natural medium to produce microalgae. Algal biomass by direct measurement of total suspended solids (TSS) and volatile suspended solids (VSS) resulted as 0.14 g/L and 0.08 g/L respectively. The biomass measurements of TSS and VSS are the sensible biomass index for algae production. The laboratory results obtained in the present study proved the production of algae by the natural water medium is potentially feasible.