Nearly 40% of CO2 emissions are attributable to industries. The goal of our project is to solve the CO2 problem by using engineered E.coli to fix carbon dioxide emitted from industries and convert it into bio-product, pyruvate. To accomplish our goal, we designed a device that will upscale our project to be used on field and we aim to integrate the device into industrial IGCC system.

Our device consists of 3 main parts: a bioreactor, a nutrient tank and a collection tank.The flue gas contains high concentration of CO2 and this will inhibit the growth of E.coli. Thus, we reduce CO2 concentration level to less than 5% before entering the bioreactor by using flowmeter, which is an instrument for measuring the flow of gases in pipelines.

To prevent sedimentation of cells at the bottom of bioreactor, we build our own 3D printed slow speed magnetic stirrer which permits gentle mixing of microcarrier cell cultures. The 3D printed magnet bed is designed specifically for two magnets and can be fitted on the DC motor. The stirrer works by using a DC motor to spin two magnets with opposite polarity, which could create a magnetic field in the bioreactor and cause the stir bar to spin and mix the contents. For controlling the speed of the DC motor, we use Arduino and L298N to control the input voltage to the motor by using PWM signal.

The nutrients are pumped into the growth chamber at a rate proportional to the growth factor of the culture, which is determined experimentally through the doubling time of the particular bacterial strain.

The nutrients are pumped into the growth chamber at a rate proportional to the growth factor of the culture, which is determined experimentally through the doubling time of the particular bacterial strain.