Team:NCKU Tainan/Hardware
Hardware
Accomplishment
1. Built and characterized a functional prototype for carbon utilization system in industry sector. 2. Created an instructional video, a manual and lists of materials. 3. Implemented Bio-safety to our device. 4. Integrated with modelling.
Introduction
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.
Device design
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.
Bioreactor
We developed a closed bioreactor system and implemented online monitoring system which can live monitoring several environmental parameters. Here is the detail of our bioreactor.
Gas inlet port are located on the bioreactor’s lower part while outlet port are located on the bioreactor’s upper lid. As low concentration CO2 enters the bioreactor, it flows through the diffuser refiner and dissolves in the buffered medium to form acid. A pH sensor and temperature sensor is installed to monitor the bioreactor tank for further control implementation. Besides, the CO2 concentration level of exhaust gas is monitored by a CO2 gas sensor, which is mounted on the upper lid. These sensor’s output is connected to an Arduino analog input and sensor readings are displayed on a serial LCD which is attached on the lid of bioreactor. The data is then uploaded in real time to a web server via WiFi by using Arduino WiFi Shield.