Reduction of water and energy requirement of algae cultivation using an algae biofilm photobioreactor
Abstract
This paper reports the construction and performance of an algae biofilm photobioreactor that offers a significant reduction of the energy and water requirements of cultivation. The green alga Botryococcus braunii was cultivated as a biofilm. The system achieved a direct biomass harvest concentration of 96.4 kg/m(3) with a total lipid content 26.8% by dry weight and a productivity of 0.71 g/m(2) day, representing a light to biomass energy conversion efficiency of 2.02%. Moreover, it reduced the volume of water required to cultivate a kilogram of algal biomass by 45% and reduced the dewatering energy requirement by 99.7% compared to open ponds. Finally, the net energy ratio of the cultivation was 6.00 including dewatering. The current issues of this novel photobioreactor are also identified to further improve the system productivity and scaleup.
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The water footprints of microalgae biomass production are 2857 L kg-1 for open raceway pond and 1618 L kg-1 for biofilm photobioreactor.
“The water footprints of microalgae biomass production are 2857 L kg -1 , and 1618 L kg -1 for open raceway pond, and biofilm photobioreactor, respectively (Ozkan et al., 2012).”
From Potential of microalgae as a sustainable feed ingredient for aquaculture (2021) · cites this paper as Ozkan et al., 2012
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References 35 · Cited by 349
- Authors
- Ozkan, A., Kinney, K., Katz, L., & Berberoglu, H.
- Affiliations
- The University of Texas at Austin (US)
- Venue
- Bioresource Technology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2012-06
- Volume
- 114
- Pages
- 542-548
- ISSN
- 0960-8524 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2117306018
- Cited by
- 349
- References
- 35
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 28 · 2021: 40 · 2020: 27 · 2019: 23 · 2018: 28 · 2017: 31 · 2016: 37 · 2015: 21 · 2014: 24 · 2013: 19 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 8.22
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Bioresource Technology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › Algal biology and biofuel production
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Aquatic Ecosystems and Phytoplankton Dynamics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Aquatic Science › Innovations in Aquaponics and Hydroponics Systems
- Keywords
- Botryococcus braunii, algae cultivation, lipid content, biomass productivity, net energy ratio, scale-up
- MeSH terms
- Chlorophyta, Energy Metabolism, Equipment Design, Water, Biofilms, Equipment Failure Analysis, Photobioreactors, Batch Cell Culture Techniques
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