Systems and methods for capturing greenhouse gases utilizing algae

A process for capturing greenhouse gas emissions utilizing algae, the process comprising:

• feeding a carbon dioxide feed stream, a recycle water stream, and light to a closed photobioreactor, thereby forming oxygen and the algae;
• extracting the oxygen and at least a portion of the algae from the closed photobioreactor, the algae extracted as a wet biomass stream;
• introducing the wet biomass stream to a dewatering unit along with an exhaust gas stream comprising carbon dioxide, thereby forming steam, a reduced temperature exhaust gas stream, and a dehydrated biomass product;
• introducing at least a portion of the steam to a cooling unit, the cooling unit fluidly connected downstream from the dewatering unit, thereby condensing the steam and forming the recycle water stream;
• introducing the reduced temperature exhaust gas stream to a treatment unit, the treatment unit comprising one or more absorption columns, oxidation columns, membrane separation columns, or combinations thereof, thereby forming the carbon dioxide feed stream;
• conducting a machine learning algorithm, wherein the machine learning algorithm comprises clustering and classification portions and is executed by a controller, the controller comprising a plurality of actuators coupled to a plurality of control valves, the machine learning algorithm comprising:
• monitoring a plurality of algae growth variables in the closed photobioreactor utilizing a plurality of sensors, the plurality of algae growth variables comprising a carbon dioxide content, a pH, a light intensity, a temperature, an oxygen content, and a nutrient content and the plurality of sensors comprising a gas chromatograph, a pH sensor, a photosensitive sensor, and a temperature sensor,
• concurrently monitoring a lifecycle of the algae via the oxygen content and the wet biomass stream extracted from the closed photobioreactor,
• determining sensitivities between the lifecycle of the algae and one or more of the plurality of the algae growth variables by varying the plurality of algae growth variables, and
• determining an optimized level of carbon dioxide content of the closed photobioreactor associated with an optimized and controlled lifecycle of the algae based on the sensitivities;
• monitoring the carbon dioxide content of the closed photobioreactor;
• and
• varying the carbon dioxide content of the closed photobioreactor relative to the carbon dioxide content exceeding a predetermined tolerance from the optimized carbon dioxide content associated with the optimized and controlled lifecycle of the algae, via the controller, by varying one or more of:
• a recycle rate of the carbon dioxide back to the treatment unit,
• an introduction rate of an external air source into the reduced temperature exhaust gas stream, the carbon dioxide feed stream, or both, or
• a recycle rate of oxygen into the carbon dioxide feed stream,
• further wherein the controller initiates one or more of the plurality of actuators to open and close one or more of the plurality of valves for altering the recycle rate of the carbon dioxide, the introduction rate, or the recycle rate of the oxygen.