Producing Supersaturated Dissolved Oxygen Seawater by Photosynthesis of Ulva sp. and Its Applications

Abstract

In order to create new value in biomass production using sterile Ulva with high production efficiency, we selected sterile Ulva with high culture stability from the coast of Imari City in Japan and investigated the conditions for generating high concentrations of dissolved oxygen through photosynthesis using the sterile Ulva. In the cultivation of sterile Ulva, we investigated the conditions for generating high concentrations of dissolved oxygen (DO) by controlling conditions such as aeration, NO₃-N concentration, and population density. As a result, we found that under the cultivation control conditions we found, DO reached about 3.8 times the saturation concentration after 3 h. It was found that this high level of DO can be maintained if the supersaturated DO seawater obtained here is properly sealed. Seawater containing high levels of DO is essential for the cultivation of oysters and shellfish, which also prefer a growth temperature of 20°C−25°C. Therefore, from the perspective of creating new value in biomass production, we developed a new system for simultaneously cultivating sterile Ulva and cultivating oysters.