scholarly journals A Novel System for Real-Time, In Situ Monitoring of CO2 Sequestration in Photoautotrophic Biofilms

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 1163
Author(s):  
Patrick Ronan ◽  
Otini Kroukamp ◽  
Steven N. Liss ◽  
Gideon Wolfaardt

Climate change brought about by anthropogenic CO2 emissions has created a critical need for effective CO2 management solutions. Microalgae are well suited to contribute to efforts aimed at addressing this challenge, given their ability to rapidly sequester CO2 coupled with the commercial value of their biomass. Recently, microalgal biofilms have garnered significant attention over the more conventional suspended algal growth systems, since they allow for easier and cheaper biomass harvesting, among other key benefits. However, the path to cost-effectiveness and scaling up is hindered by a need for new tools and methodologies which can help evaluate, and in turn optimize, algal biofilm growth. Presented here is a novel system which facilitates the real-time in situ monitoring of algal biofilm CO2 sequestration. Utilizing a CO2-permeable membrane and a tube-within-a-tube design, the CO2 sequestration monitoring system (CSMS) was able to reliably detect slight changes in algal biofilm CO2 uptake brought about by light–dark cycling, light intensity shifts, and varying amounts of phototrophic biomass. This work presents an approach to advance our understanding of carbon flux in algal biofilms, and a base for potentially useful innovations to optimize, and eventually realize, algae biofilm-based CO2 sequestration.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Zehner ◽  
Anja Røyne ◽  
Pawel Sikorski

AbstractBiocementation is commonly based on microbial-induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) or enzyme-induced carbonate precipitation (EICP), where biomineralization of $$\text {CaCO}_{3}$$ CaCO 3 in a granular medium is used to produce a sustainable, consolidated porous material. The successful implementation of biocementation in large-scale applications requires detailed knowledge about the micro-scale processes of $$\text {CaCO}_{3}$$ CaCO 3 precipitation and grain consolidation. For this purpose, we present a microscopy sample cell that enables real time and in situ observations of the precipitation of $$\text {CaCO}_{3}$$ CaCO 3 in the presence of sand grains and calcite seeds. In this study, the sample cell is used in combination with confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) which allows the monitoring in situ of local pH during the reaction. The sample cell can be disassembled at the end of the experiment, so that the precipitated crystals can be characterized with Raman microspectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) without disturbing the sample. The combination of the real time and in situ monitoring of the precipitation process with the possibility to characterize the precipitated crystals without further sample processing, offers a powerful tool for knowledge-based improvements of biocementation.


2002 ◽  
Vol 68 (11) ◽  
pp. 5737-5740 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ariel Maoz ◽  
Ralf Mayr ◽  
Geraldine Bresolin ◽  
Klaus Neuhaus ◽  
Kevin P. Francis ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Bioluminescent mutants of Yersinia enterocolitica were generated by transposon mutagenesis using a promoterless, complete lux operon (luxCDABE) derived from Photorhabdus luminescens, and their production of light in the cheese environment was monitored. Mutant B94, which had the lux cassette inserted into an open reading frame of unknown function was used for direct monitoring of Y. enterocolitica cells on cheeses stored at 10°C by quantifying bioluminescence using a photon-counting, intensified charge-coupled device camera. The detection limit on cheese was 200 CFU/cm2. Bioluminescence of the reporter mutant was significantly regulated by its environment (NaCl, temperature, and cheese), as well as by growth phase, via the promoter the lux operon had acquired upon transposition. At low temperatures, mutant B94 did not exhibit the often-reported decrease of photon emission in older cells. It was not necessary to include either antibiotics or aldehyde in the food matrix in order to gain quantitative, reproducible bioluminescence data. As far as we know, this is the first time a pathogen has been monitored in situ, in real time, in a “real-product” status, and at a low temperature.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 1701337 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiajun Tian ◽  
Yanrong He ◽  
Juntao Li ◽  
Jie Wei ◽  
Gangqiang Li ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Vol 112 ◽  
pp. 149-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ning Zhang ◽  
Flurin Stauffer ◽  
Benjamin R. Simona ◽  
Feng Zhang ◽  
Zhao-Ming Zhang ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Chaitanya Krishna Prasad Vallabh ◽  
Yubo Xiong ◽  
Xiayun Zhao

Abstract In-situ monitoring of a Laser Powder-Bed Fusion (LPBF) additive manufacturing process is crucial in enhancing the process efficiency and ensuring the built part integrity. In this work, we present an in-situ monitoring method using an off-axis camera for monitoring layer-wise process anomalies. The in-situ monitoring is performed with a spatial resolution of 512 × 512 pixels, with each pixel representing 250 × 250 μm and a relatively high data acquisition rate of 500 Hz. An experimental study is conducted by using the developed in-situ off-axis method for monitoring the build process for a standard tensile bar. Real-time video data is acquired for each printed layer. Data analytics methods are developed to identify layer-wise anomalies, observe powder bed characteristics, reconstruct 3D part structure, and track the spatter dynamics. A deep neural network architecture is trained using the acquired layer-wise images and tested by images embedded with artificial anomalies. The real-time video data is also used to perform a preliminary spatter analysis along the laser scan path. The developed methodology is aimed to extract as much information as possible from a single set of camera video data. It will provide the AM community with an efficient and capable process monitoring tool for process control and quality assurance while using LPBF to produce high-standard components in industrial (such as, aerospace and biomedical industries) applications.


2019 ◽  
Vol 161 ◽  
pp. 108185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Liu ◽  
Xiao Liu ◽  
Zechuan Zhang ◽  
Nicholas Farrell ◽  
Dafu Chen ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 147 ◽  
pp. 111755 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaonan Gao ◽  
Jia Li ◽  
Mingming Luan ◽  
Yanhua Li ◽  
Wei Pan ◽  
...  

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document