A novel horizontal photobioreactor for high-density cultivation of microalgae
Abstract
Microalgae are a promising source of biofuels and bioproducts, as they consume CO2 to grow, multiply quickly, and can be cultivated in wastewater and on marginal land. Development of low-cost and high-efficiency microalgal cultivation systems is important to the cost-competitiveness of algae. A floating horizontal photobioreactor (HBR) was developed that is inexpensive and scalable, as it is manufactured from inexpensive plastic film and is modular. Its performance was successfully tested using the marine microalgae Nannochloris atomus Butcher CCAP 251/4A in a 65-L prototype unit. High biomass concentration of 4.0 g L(-1) and productivity of 12.9 g m(-2)d(-1) was achieved indoors under artificial illumination of 31.3 klux (435 μmol m(-2)s(-1)). Outdoors, during semi-continuous operation in Florida, the HBR achieved over the course of 165 days a maximum biomass concentration of 4.3 g L(-1) and an average biomass productivity of 18.2 g m(-2)d(-1) without any contamination issues.
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Photobioreactors have strong photosynthetic efficiency leading to high biomass and lipid productivity.
“On the other hand, PBRs have strong photosynthetic efficiency leading to a high biomass and lipid productivity [163].”
From Microalgae biofuels: illuminating the path to a sustainable future amidst challenges and opportunities (2024) · cites this paper as [163]
Studies have focused on optimizing biomass production, improving contaminant removal efficiency, and reducing cost and space dominance by renovating the configurations of photobioreactors.
“Studies focused on how to optimize biomass production, improve contaminants removal efficiency, reduce cost and space dominance by renovating the configurations of PBRs [163, 168].”
From Microalgae biofuels: illuminating the path to a sustainable future amidst challenges and opportunities (2024) · cites this paper as [163]
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- Authors
- Dogaris, I., Welch, M., Meiser, A., Walmsley, L., & Philippidis, G.
- Affiliations
- University of South Florida (US)
- Corresponding author
- Philippidis, George
- Venue
- Bioresource Technology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2015-12
- Volume
- 198
- Pages
- 316-324
- ISSN
- 0960-8524 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1665234571
- Cited by
- 118
- References
- 29
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 1
- FWCI
- 2.76
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Bioresource Technology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
- 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 › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Microbial Metabolic Engineering and Bioproduction
- Keywords
- microalgae cultivation, high-density cultivation, biomass productivity, artificial lighting, algal biofuels
- MeSH terms
- Biomass, Biofuels, Microalgae, Photobioreactors, Wastewater
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