Abstract
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 400µmolphotonsm(-2)s(-1) in the vertical position to 1800µmolphotonsm(-2)s(-1) in the horizontal position. The highest volumetric productivity was achieved in the simulated horizontal position, 4gkg culture(-1)d(-1). The highest photosynthetic efficiency was found for the vertical simulation, 1.3g of biomass produced per mol of PAR photons supplied, which compares favorably to the horizontal position (0.85gmol(-1)) and to the theoretical maximal yield (1.8gmol(-1)). These results prove that productivity per unit of ground area could be greatly enhanced by placing the photobioreactors vertically
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 5129-5137 |
Journal | Bioresource Technology |
Volume | 102 |
Issue number | 8 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2011 |
Keywords
- outdoor mass cultivation
- chlorophyll fluorescence
- tubular photobioreactor
- muriellopsis sp
- chlorella
- light
- temperature
- culture
- productivity
- irradiance