Perspective Design of Algae Photobioreactor for Greenhouses-A Comparative Study
Open accessAbstract
The continued growth and evolving lifestyles of the human population require the urgent development of sustainable production in all its aspects. Microalgae have the potential of the sustainable production of various commodities; however, the energetic requirements of algae cultivation still largely contribute to the overall negative balance of many operation plants. Here, we evaluate energetic efficiency of biomass and lipids production by Chlorella pyrenoidosa in multi-tubular, helical-tubular, and flat-panel airlift pilot scale photobioreactors, placed in an indoor environment of greenhouse laboratory in Central Europe. Our results show that the main energy consumption was related to the maintenance of constant light intensity in the flat-panel photobioreactor and the culture circulation in the helical-tubular photobioreactor. The specific power input ranged between 0.79 W L−1 in the multi-tubular photobioreactor and 6.8 W L−1 in the flat-panel photobioreactor. The construction of multi-tubular photobioreactor allowed for the lowest energy requirements but also predetermined the highest temperature sensitivity and led to a significant reduction of Chlorella productivity in extraordinary warm summers 2018 and 2019. To meet the requirements of sustainable yearlong microalgal production in the context of global change, further development towards hybrid microalgal cultivation systems, combining the advantages of open and closed systems, can be expected.
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The microalgae growth medium is a mix of tap water plus minerals, typically based on nitrate, using a modified GB-11 medium with 0.0382 g/l of nitrate.
“Medium is used as a mix of tap (fresh)water plus minerals added, typicaly based on Nitrate a modified GB-11 medium is used with 0.0382g/l of Nitrate (Sukacova, 2021).”
From Control system architecture for novel experimental microalgae photobioreactor Simbios (2022) · cites this paper as Sukacova, 2021
Section 3.1 (page unavailable) says C. pyrenoidosa was grown in full BG-11 medium in 2018 and BG-11 with tenfold-reduced nitrogen in 2019. That supports use of a modified BG-11 medium, but our copy does not establish that it was made with tap water and added minerals or contained 0.0382 g/L nitrate; searches for those details found no supporting passage. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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Control system architecture for novel experimental microalgae photobioreactor Simbios
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- Authors
- Sukačová, K., Lošák, P., Brummer, V., Máša, V., Vícha, D., & Zavřel, T.
- Affiliations
- Czech Academy of Sciences, Global Change Research Institute (CZ)
- Brno University of Technology (CZ)
- Corresponding author
- Sukačová, Kateřina
- Venue
- Energies
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2021-03-01
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 1338
- ISSN
- 1996-1073 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3135770515
- Cited by
- 51
- References
- 10
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 4
- FWCI
- 1.36
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Energies (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Brno University of Technology Digital Library (Brno University of Technology) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Ministerstvo Školství, Mládeže a Tělovýchovy (CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_026/0008413)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › Algal biology and biofuel production
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Aquatic Science › Innovations in Aquaponics and Hydroponics Systems
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Greenhouse Technology and Climate Control
- Keywords
- microalgae cultivation, photobioreactor design, Chlorella pyrenoidosa, greenhouse cultivation, energy efficiency, specific power input, flat panel photobioreactor, microalgal lipid production, temperature sensitivity
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