Development of a Floating Photobioreactor with Internal Partitions for Efficient Utilization of Ocean Wave into Improved Mass Transfer and Algal Culture Mixing
Abstract
Culturing microalgae in the ocean has potentials that may reduce the production cost and provide an option for an economic biofuel production from microalgae. The ocean holds great potentials for mass microalgal cultivation with its high specific heat, mixing energy from waves, and large cultivable area. Suitable photobioreactors (PBRs) that are capable of integrating marine energy into the culture systems need to be developed for the successful ocean cultivation. In this study, prototype floating PBRs were designed and constructed using transparent low-density polyethylene film for microalgal culture in the ocean. To improve the mixing efficiency, various types of internal partitions were introduced within PBRs. Three different types of internal partitions were evaluated for their effects on the mixing efficiency in terms of mass transfer (k(L)a) and mixing time in the PBRs. The partition type with the best mixing efficiency was selected, and the number of partitions was varied from one to three for investigation of its effect on mixing efficiency. When the number of partitions is increased, mass transfer increased in proportion to the number of partitions. However, mixing time was not directly related to the number of partitions. When a green microalga, Tetraselmis sp. was cultivated using PBRs with the selected partition under semi-continuous mode in the ocean, biomass and fatty acid productivities in the PBRs were increased by up to 50 % and 44% at high initial cell density, respectively, compared to non-partitioned ones. The results of internally partitioned PBRs demonstrated potentials for culturing microalgae by efficiently utilizing ocean wave energy into culture mixing in the ocean.
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A PBR system cultivating Tetraselmis in a partially continuous method attained a productivity of 3.9 gm-2 day-1 biomass and 544.4 mgm-2 day-1 fatty acid methyl ester.
“Kim et al. (2016) found that a PBR system cultivating Tetraselmis in a partially continuous method attained a productivity of 3.9 gm -2 day -1 biomass and 544.4 mgm -2 day -1 fatty acid methyl ester.”
From Strategies to Produce Cost-Effective Third-Generation Biofuel From Microalgae (2021) · cites this paper as Kim et al., 2016
Studies focused on enhancing lipid production and quality through membrane photobioreactors predominantly aim to utilize wastewater for inducing lipid production.
“Among them, studies focused on enhancing lipid production and quality through membrane PBRs predominantly aim to utilize wastewater for inducing lipid production [169–172].”
From Microalgae biofuels: illuminating the path to a sustainable future amidst challenges and opportunities (2024) · cites this paper as [169]
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- Authors
- Kim, Z.-H., Park, H., Hong, S.-J., Lim, S.-M., & Lee, C.-G.
- Affiliations
- Inha University (KR)
- Corresponding author
- Lee, Choul-Gyun
- Venue
- Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering
- Published
- 2016-02-08
- Volume
- 39
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 713-723
- ISSN
- 1615-7591 (ISSN-L)
- 1615-7605
- OpenAlex
- W2261683980
- Cited by
- 69
- References
- 37
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 4
- FWCI
- 2.08
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- 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
- internal partitions, wave energy utilization, microalgae cultivation, mass transfer, mixing efficiency, Tetraselmis, low-density polyethylene films, semi-continuous cultivation, biofuel production
- MeSH terms
- Fatty Acids, Marine Biology, Oceans and Seas, Microalgae, Photobioreactors
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