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Design of Closed Photobioreactors for Algal Cultivation

  • Chapter
Algal Biorefineries

Abstract

Apart from their indispensable role as solar-driven oxygen factories, microalgae act as powerful microbial cell factories for production of various intra- or extracellular bio-products like proteins, lipids, pigments, well-known and exotic carbohydrates, biopolyesters, antibiotics or bio-hydrogen. These products can serve the demands of various markets such as the fuel- and energy sector, cosmetic industry, pharmaceutical industry, convenience- and functional food, and agriculture, or even constitute novel raw-materials for manufacturing of biodegradable plastic materials.

Efficient output of these products by using selected microalgal species requires the adaptation of the cultivation system to the special requirements of different microalgae. Factors like protection against microbial contamination, optimized nutrient supply, tailored illumination, sufficient outgassing of the produced oxygen, and maintaining pH-value and temperature in the optimum range have to be taken into account when designing an algae-based production platform for bio-products.

Simple, well-known open cultivation systems are operating at typical natural environmental conditions which are far below the real biosynthetic potential of these microbial cell factories. As a common consequence, such systems only produce modest cell densities at low volumetric productivity. Closed systems allow for the adaptation of process conditions to the optimum values inherent in the different species, provide the possibility to implement more effective illumination systems, prevent water loss by evaporation, avoid the entrance of competing microbes into the system, and circumvent the release of the algal cells into the environment. Hence, high output for desired algal bio-products requires the development of sophisticated closed photobioreactor (PBR) systems; they are designed based both on deep understanding for microbial processes and on process engineering know-how. Such optimized design, mimicking nature’s strategies for light harvest, constitutes the pre-requisite for economic success of phototrophic biotechnology that now is already announced since decades. The chapter at hands offers a detailed overview of different used types of photobioreactors for cultivation of microalgae, highlighting their opportunities, advantages and constraints, devotes special attention to the scalability of different PBR systems, and provides examples for successful (semi)industrial implementations.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Chemistry, Department of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, NAWI Graz, University of Graz, Heinrichstrasse 28/III, 8010, Graz, Austria

    Martin Koller

Authors
  1. Martin Koller
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Correspondence to Martin Koller .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA

    Aleš Prokop

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, Louisiana, USA

    Rakesh K. Bajpai

  3. Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, Louisiana, USA

    Mark E. Zappi

List of Abbreviations and Symbols

List of Abbreviations and Symbols

CAPEX:

Capital Expenditure (Investment cost)

CDM:

Cell dry mass

CFD:

Computational fluid dynamics

CFU:

Colony forming unit

D:

Dilution rate

E:

Einstein (1 Mol of photons)

kLa:

Oxygen mass transfer coefficient

μ:

specific growth rate [1/h]

μmax. :

maximum specific growth rate [1/h]

μE/m2s:

Mikroeinstein per square meter and second

PE:

Poly(ethylene)

PBR:

Photobioreactor

PCL:

Poly(ε-caprolactone)

PET:

Poly(ethyleneterephtalate)

PHA:

Poly(hydroxyalkanoate)

PLA:

Poly(lactate)

PMMA:

Poly(methylmetacrylate)

PUFAs:

Polyunsaturated fatty acids

PVC:

Poly(vinyl chloride)

STR:

Stirred tank reactor

vvm:

volume per volume and minutes

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Koller, M. (2015). Design of Closed Photobioreactors for Algal Cultivation. In: Prokop, A., Bajpai, R., Zappi, M. (eds) Algal Biorefineries. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20200-6_4

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