Principles of fluid mechanics, gas-liquid mass transfer, and irradiance controlled algal growth are integrated into a method for designing tubular photobioreactors in which the culture is circulated by an airlift pump. A 0.2 m(3) photobioreactor designed using the proposed approach was proved in continuous outdoor culture of the microalga Phaeodactylum tricornutum. The culture performance was a...

In the current literature, the life cycle, technoeconomic, and resource assessments of microalgae-based biofuel production systems have relied on growth models extrapolated from laboratory-scale data, leading to a large uncertainty in results. This type of simplistic growth modeling overestimates productivity potential and fails to incorporate biological effects, geographical location, or culti...

The aim of this study was to test three flat plate photobioreactor configurations for growth of Chlorella vulgaris under non-axenic conditions and to characterize and quantify associated bacterial communities. The photobioreactor cultivations were conducted using tap water-based media to introduce background bacterial population. Growth of algae was monitored over time with three independent me...

Carotenoids comprise a diverse group of natural biomolecules with a plethora of beneficial effects. These compounds include potent bioantioxidants, provitamins, and safe colourants that are in high demand by pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food industries. A few species of unicellular algae (called carotenogenic microalgae) mainly the representatives of Chlorophyta, are among the richest biologica...

Microalgae biomass has become a valuable material, the attractiveness of which is familiar to a wider group of customers, not only as a biomass (a prepared product), but also as a raw material for the production of a number of valuable substances like ethanol, hydrogen, hormones, biostimulants, and many other. Human nutrition, animal feeding, biofuel production, and sustainable agriculture – th...

This work presents the application of an event-based model predictive control algorithm to regulate the pH in a microalgae production process. The control aim is to maintain the pH within specific limits and to minimize CO2 losses. The control scheme is based on a Generalized Predictive Control (GPC) algorithm with sensor deadband approach. In this algorithm, the controller execution frequency ...