Patent ID: 11970683
Assignee: ARIZONA BOARD OF REGENTS ON BEHALF OF ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
Field: Biotechnology (Chemistry)
Classification: CPC C | IPC C

Claim 15:
16. A membrane carbonation system for cultivating a photoautotrophic organism in a photoautotrophic culture, the system comprising:
a membrane unit comprising a plurality of non-porous hollow-fiber membranes configured to be at least partially submerged in the photoautotrophic culture, wherein each of the non-porous hollow-fiber membranes comprises a lumen;
a solenoid valve fluidly coupled to an inlet of the membrane unit and configured to fluidly couple to a gas source comprising gas mixtures comprising CO2, the solenoid valve configured to control the supply of the gas mixtures from the gas source to the lumen of each of the non-porous hollow-fiber membranes, wherein when the gas mixtures are present in the lumen of each of the non-porous hollow-fiber membranes, the CO2 diffuses through the non-porous hollow-fiber membranes into the photoautotrophic culture;
a venting valve fluidly coupled to an outlet of the membrane unit, the venting valve configured to vent inert gases from the lumen of each of the non-porous hollow-fiber membranes and prevent accumulation of the inert gases within the lumen
a pH probe configured to be inserted in the photoautotrophic culture and to gather pH data regarding the pH of the photoautotrophic culture; and
a controller communicatively coupled to the solenoid valve and the pH probe, wherein the controller is configured to receive the pH data from the pH probe and to control the solenoid valve based on the pH data.