Modeling the Influence of Temperature, Light Intensity and Oxygen Concentration on Microalgal Growth Rate
Open accessAbstract
Dissolved oxygen plays a key role in microalgal growth at high density. This effect was so far rarely quantified. Here we propose a new model to represent the combined effect of light, oxygen concentration and temperature (LOT-model) on microalgae growth. The LOT-model introduces oxygen concentration in order to represent the oxidative stress affecting the cultures, adding a toxicity term in the expression of the net growth rate. The model was validated with experimental data for several species such as Chlorella minutissima, Chlorella vulgaris, Dunaliella salina, Isochrysis galbana. It successfully predicted experimental records with an average error lower than 5.5%. The model was also validated using dynamical data where oxygen concentration varies. It highlights a strong impact of oxygen concentration on productivity, depending on temperature. The model quantifies the sensitivity to oxidative stress of different species and shows, for example, that Dunaliella salina is much less affected than Chlorella vulgaris by oxidative stress. The modeling approach can support an optimization strategy to improve productivity, especially for managing high oxygen levels.
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In PBRs, oxygen as a product of photosynthesis exerts an inhibitory effect on the growth rate of the culture when the oxygen concentration exceeds 200-500% of the saturation values, i.e., above 15-25 mg O2/L.
“As a product of photosynthesis, it exerts an inhibitory effect on the growth rate of the culture when the oxygen concentration exceeds 200-500% of the saturation values, i.e., above 15-25 mg O2/L [160].”
From Multi-Sensing Monitoring of the Microalgae Biomass Cultivation Systems for Biofuels and Added Value Products Synthesis—Challenges and Opportunities (2025) · cites this paper as [160]
The Introduction says oxygen oversaturation negatively affects growth, and §4.1 reports reduced modeled growth rates at elevated oxygen levels in a photobioreactor. But the paper does not establish inhibition beginning above 200–500% saturation or give the claimed equivalent threshold of 15–25 mg O₂/L; §4.2 instead discusses particular comparisons at 300% and 400% saturation. (LLM, conf=0.87)
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- Authors
- López Muñoz, I., & Bernard, O.
- Affiliations
- BIOCORE, Université Côte d’Azur, INRIA, BP 93, 06902 Sophia Antipolis Cedex, France
- Venue
- Processes
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2021-03-09
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 496
- ISSN
- 2227-9717 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3133935335
- Cited by
- 46
- References
- 33
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 8
- FWCI
- 1.17
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Processes (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- HAL (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- BIOMSA (ADEME project BIOMSA)
- 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
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Fluid Dynamics and Mixing
- Keywords
- microalgae growth rate, dissolved oxygen, light intensity, temperature, oxidative stress, Chlorella minutissima, Chlorella vulgaris, Dunaliella salina, Isochrysis galbana, microalgae productivity, high-density cultivation, growth models
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