Abstract—In this study, the growth of the microalgae, Isochrysis sp. under different illumination levels of natural sunlight was evaluated.
Isochrysis sp. was cultured in f/2 media with five variations of illumination exposures. Each experimental setup was cultured in a 1 L cylindrical column with aeration provided by an air pump. Results showed that the best growth was exhibited when microalgae culture was exposed to 73.6% of illumination exposure with a light-dark cycle of 43.88-28.36s per height of column. Said culture also gave the highest CO
2 fixation rate of 0.541 g CO
2/day. This proved that optimum illumination exposure is one of the most important factors towards improving microalgae growth rate and enhancing its’ carbon fixation ability.
Index Terms—Carbon fixation rate, illumination,
Isochrysis sp., light-dark cycle.
Irina Harun, Liyana Yahya, Muhammad Nazry Chik, and Mohd Asyraf Mohd Azmir Pang are with the TNB Research Sdn Bhd, Kajang 43000, Malaysia (tel.: +60389225000; fax: +60389268828; e-mail: irina@tnbr.com.my, liyana.yahya@tnbr.com.my, mnazry.chik@tnbr.com.my, masyraf.mapang@tnbr.com.my). Nur Nadia Abdul Kadir is with the Chemical Engineering Department, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Malaysia (e-mail: nurnadia_nad96@rocketmail.com).
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Cite:Irina Harun, Liyana Yahya, Muhammad Nazry Chik, Nur Nadia Abdul Kadir, and Mohd Asyraf Mohd Azmir Pang, "Effects of Natural Light Dilution on Microalgae Growth," International Journal of Chemical Engineering and Applications vol. 5, no. 2 pp. 112-116, 2014.
