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Abstract
Microalgae are promising sources for the production of food, feed, bulk chemicals and biofuels. Currently, the production of bulk commodities from algal biomass is not yet feasible due to high costs and energy demand of microalgae production processes. In order to reduce the costs and energy demand of microalgae cultivation, a liquid foam-bed photobioreactor was developed. Such a liquid foam-bed photobioreactor has several advantages over traditional photobioreactors. For example, the foam-bed photobioreactor allows for increased biomass concentration, thereby reducing harvesting costs. Furthermore, less energy is required for gassing because of the low pressure in the reactor, and the transfer of carbon dioxide to the microalgae culture is faster and more efficient due to improved gas-liquid contact. This new photobioreactor design relies on continuous foam formation and foam breaking, and therefore several foam breaking techniques and reactor configurations were experimentally evaluated. In addition, our experiments revealed that Pluronic F68 is a suitable foam stabilizing agent for the foam-bed photobioreactor. We showed experimentally the feasibility and potential of such a foam-bed photobioreactor: we maintained > 20 g L-1 biomass density during continuous reactor operation, and we achieved 57 g m-2 d-1 areal biomass productivity. Our calculations show that the energy requirements of microalgae production can be reduced ten-fold when a foam-bed photobioreactor is used instead of a traditional flat panel photobioreactor.
Original language | English |
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Qualification | Doctor of Philosophy |
Awarding Institution |
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Supervisors/Advisors |
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Award date | 15 Jun 2018 |
Place of Publication | Wageningen |
Publisher | |
Print ISBNs | 9789463432689 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 15 Jun 2018 |
Keywords
- biobased economy
- biomass
- photobioreactors
- algae
- biomass production
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Dive into the research topics of 'A liquid foam-bed photobioreactor for microalgae production'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 2 Finished
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Microalgae production in liquid foam- beds
Janoska, A. (PhD candidate), Wijffels, R. (Promotor) & Janssen, M. (Co-promotor)
1/11/13 → 15/06/18
Project: PhD
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MIRACLES: Multi-product Integrated bioRefinery of Algae: from Carbon dioxide and Light Energy to high-value Specialties
1/11/13 → 31/10/17
Project: EU research project