Chim-chimney! Gas used to cultivate microalgae for skin care purpose

26-Sep-2012 - Last updated on 26-Sep-2012 at 15:36 GMT

Flue gas to be cultivated for skin care purposes?

Researchers at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) have used flue gas from factory chimneys to cultivate microalgae which can be used in skin care products.

Flue gas is the gas exiting to the atmosphere via a pipe or channel for conveying exhaust gases from a fireplace, oven, furnace, boiler or steam generator.

A team, led by Professor Jo-Shu Chang at NCKU Department of Chemical Engineering, has collaborated with China Steel Company to establish a pilot system for microalgae cultivation from flue gas and to develop platform technology for microalgae biodiesel production using the microalgae yielded from consuming the flue gas CO2.

Cosmetics promise

Microalgae biomass can be made into a wide range of biofuels, health food, but it is microalgae cosmetics that could hold the greatest promise.

According to the research team in Taiwan, adding that microalgae extract can promote cell restoration and cohesion, making it a perfect ingredient for skin care products.

Skin care commodities like essence, day cream, night cream, skin mask made from microalgae extract, are ready to enter the market, according to Chang’s team.

Cultivated microalgae

The researchers cultivated microalgae directly using high-temperature flue gas from chimneys at China Steel Company.

Microalgae grown in this method can endure high temperatures, according to Chang, whose team developed a technology that allows for wet processing of microalgae into biofuels, helping to save the drying costs.

According to Chang, Taiwan's rich microalgae resources give it a great advantage in developing a microalgae industry, adding that the industry can be very helpful in reducing carbon levels because algae captures carbon dioxide during photosynthesis.

The NCKU research team on microalgae consists of the professors and investigators from Research Center for Energy Technology and Strategy, University Center for Bioscience and Biotechnology, Department of Chemical Engineering, Graduate Institute of Biotechnology, and Department of Chemistry, as well as Department of Biological Science and Technology at National Chiao Tung University (NCTU) and Department of Chemical Engineering at National Taiwan University (NTU).