Horizontal or vertical photobioreactors? How to improve microalgae photosynthetic efficiency
The productivity of a vertical outdoor photobioreactor was quantitatively assessed and compared to a horizontal reactor. Daily light cycles in southern Spain were simulated and applied to grow the microalgae Chlorella sorokiniana in a flat panel photobioreactor. The maximal irradiance around noon di...
| Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | article |
| Publication Date: | 2011 |
| Country: | España |
| Institution: | Universidad de Huelva (UHU) |
| Repository: | Arias Montano. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva |
| Language: | English |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ariasmontano.uhu.es:10272/24953 |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10272/24953 |
| Access Level: | Open access |
| Keyword: | Reactor orientation Light dilution Photosynthetic efficiency Productivity Chlorella sorokiniana 3302 Tecnología Bioquímica 2302 Bioquímica |
| Summary: | The productivity of a vertical outdoor photobioreactor was quantitatively assessed and compared to a horizontal reactor. Daily light cycles in southern Spain were simulated and applied to grow the microalgae Chlorella sorokiniana in a flat panel photobioreactor. The maximal irradiance around noon differs from 400 micromol photons m-2 s-1 in the vertical position to 1800 micromol photons m-2 s-1 in the horizontal position. The highest volumetric productivity was achieved in the simulated horizontal position, 4 g kg culture-1 d-1. The highest photosynthetic efficiency was found for the vertical simulation, 1.3 g of biomass produced per mol of PAR photons supplied, which compares favorably to the horizontal position (0.85 g mol-1) and to the theoretical maximal yield (1.8 g mol-1). These results prove that productivity per unit of ground area could be greatly enhanced by placing the photobioreactors vertically. |
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