Avaliação da produção de biohidrogênio a partir da microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Abstract

The micro-algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii adds genes responsible for anaerobic metabolic pathways, being able to produce molecular hydrogen efficiently. Therefore body is a model for scientific research due to its growth characteristics and because of their nuclear genomes, mitochondrial, chloroplast are known, and modifications allow for obtaining new strains, more productive in relation to H2. The photoproduction H2 for this microalga is observed after incubation in their culture media free of sulfur. This deprivation causes partial and reversible inactivation of hotosynthetic O2 synthesis,creating anaerobic conditions induced by light in the culture medium as well as the expression of two [FeFe] -hidrogenases cells. The H2 is seen as an ideal fuel because it is not a molecule of aggravating due to the greenhouse effect. Moreover, H2 presents environmental and production cost constraints when obtained by other methods such as,electrolysis of water, steam reformed natural gas or hydrocarbons, pyrolysis and gasification of biomass, there being thus a viable alternative to the clean energy production targets. Thus, this research focuses on the training of human resources devoted to science and technology in the area linked to the molecular hydrogen bioproduction in Brazil, from the cultivation of mutant and wild-type strains of Chlamydomonas genre in controlled laboratory conditions. The strains studied were the CC-124, CC-125, CC-602 and CC-1034. These were cultured in medium with sulfur to form stock, and then cultured in medium without the addition of sulfur, to optimize the H2 production. The produced gases, including H2 were evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively by chromatographic analysis. This study confirmed that previous studies reported the behavior O2 production, is inversely proportional to H2 production (ie, the higher production of H2represents lower O2 production). The chromatographic analysis also indicates de CC-124 strain as the greatest potential for molecular hydrogen production (H2).