Introduction:

Carbon dioxide emissions from industry are one of the main causes of environmental pollution to be controlled. The algae intensive cultivation can be a viable technological alternative to mitigate gas emissions. For Ulva lactuca macroalgae there is no approximate chemical formula that facilitates the engineering calculations of facilities for its intensive cultivation, process simulation and intensification.

Objective:

To determine the approximate chemical formula of the Ulva lactuca macroalgae, from the chemical composition of this species obtained from the literature reports.

Materials and Methods:

Reports of the substances that comprise Ulva lactuca macroalgae chemical compositions are used. Adding the molecules of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and phosphorus that constitute the chemical components of the species, the approximate macroalgae elemental chemical formula is calculated.

Results and Discussion:

The approximate chemical formula of Ulva lactuca obtained is C182 H363 O169 N P and the CO2 Uptake Index is 1.533 g CO2 /g macroalgae, with an atmospheric bioremediation effect of 2.2% higher than the expressed criteria by Nikolaisen et al., (2011).

Conclusions:

The approximate chemical formula of the Ulva lactuca obtained constitutes an appropriate option to use in the required calculations in design, equipment selection and operating conditions for an intensive cultivation facility of this macroalgae, as well as in this process technical, economic and environmental evaluation.

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