Large-scale cultivation of Spirulina in a floating horizontal photobioreactor without aeration or an agitation device
Abstract
A low-cost floating photobioreactor (PBR) without the use of aeration and/or an agitation device, in which carbon was supplied in the form of bicarbonate and only wave energy was utilized for mixing, was developed in our previous study. Scaling up is a common challenge in the practical application of PBRs and has not yet been demonstrated for this new design. To fill this gap, cultivation of Spirulina platensis was conducted in this study. The results demonstrated that S. platensis had the highest productivity at 0.3 mol L-1 sodium bicarbonate, but the highest carbon utilization (104 ± 2.6%) was obtained at 0.1 mol L-1. Culture of Spirulina aerated with pure oxygen resulted in only minor inhibition of growth, indicating that its productivity will not be significantly reduced even if dissolved oxygen is accumulated to a high level due to intermittent mixing resulting from the use of wave energy. In cultivation using a floating horizontal photobioreactor at the 1.0 m 2 scale, the highest biomass concentration of 2.24 ± 0.05 g L-1 was obtained with a culture depth of 5.0 cm and the highest biomass productivity of 18.9 g m-2 day-1 was obtained with a depth of 10.0 cm. This PBR was scaled up to 10 m 2 (1000 L) with few challenges; biomass concentration and productivity during ocean testing were little different than those at the 1.0 m 2 (100 L) scale. However, the larger PBR had an apparent carbon utilization efficiency of 45.0 ± 2.8%, significantly higher than the 39.4 ± 0.9% obtained at the 1 m 2 scale. These results verified the ease of scaling up floating horizontal photobioreactors and showed their great potential in commercial applications.
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The implementation cost of hybrid photobioreactors ranges from 3.91 to 15.08 kUSD/m3, depending on the quality of materials used.
“Studies indicate that the implementation cost of hybrid photobioreactors ranges from 3.91 to 15.08 kUSD/m3, depending on the quality of the materials used, whereas raceway ponds have much lower costs, in the range of 4–6 kUSD/m3.”
From Microalgae biotechnology and its role in sustainable and healthy food design (2025) · cites this paper as Zhu et al., 2018
Raceway ponds have costs in the range of 4-6 kUSD/m3.
“Studies indicate that the implementation cost of hybrid photobioreactors ranges from 3.91 to 15.08 kUSD/m3, depending on the quality of the materials used, whereas raceway ponds have much lower costs, in the range of 4–6 kUSD/m3.”
From Microalgae biotechnology and its role in sustainable and healthy food design (2025) · cites this paper as Zhu et al., 2018
Flat-panel photobioreactors can reach up to 150 kUSD/m3.
“Tubular photobioreactors reach 40–50 kUSD/m3, and flat-panel photobioreactors can reach up to 150 kUSD/m3 (Ramírez-Mérida et al., 2017; Zhu et al., 2018).”
From Microalgae biotechnology and its role in sustainable and healthy food design (2025) · cites this paper as Zhu et al., 2018
Tubular photobioreactors reach 40-50 kUSD/m3.
“Tubular photobioreactors reach 40–50 kUSD/m3, and flat-panel photobioreactors can reach up to 150 kUSD/m3 (Ramírez-Mérida et al., 2017; Zhu et al., 2018).”
From Microalgae biotechnology and its role in sustainable and healthy food design (2025) · cites this paper as Zhu et al., 2018
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- Authors
- Zhu, C., Zhai, X., Wang, J., Han, D., Li, Y., Xi, Y., Tang, Y., & Chi, Z.
- Affiliations
- Dalian University of Technology (CN)
- Venue
- Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology
- Published
- 2018-07-28
- Volume
- 102
- Issue
- 20
- Pages
- 8979-8987
- ISSN
- 0175-7598 (ISSN-L)
- 1432-0614
- OpenAlex
- W2884396324
- Cited by
- 60
- References
- 48
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 1
- FWCI
- 1.27
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Dalian University of Technology (DUT14RC(3)065)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › Algal biology and biofuel production
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Fluid Dynamics and Mixing
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Aquatic Ecosystems and Phytoplankton Dynamics
- Keywords
- Spirulina platensis, scale-up, oxygen inhibition, carbon use efficiency, biomass productivity, culture depth
- MeSH terms
- Oxygen, Biomass, Spirulina, Microalgae, Photobioreactors
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