Productivity of Chlorella sorokiniana in a short light-path (SLP) panel photobioreactor under high irradiance

✍ Scribed by María Cuaresma; Marcel Janssen; Carlos Vílchez; René H. Wijffels

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2009
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 217 KB
• Volume: 104
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0006-3592
• DOI: 10.1002/bit.22394

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Maximal productivity of a 14 mm light‐path panel photobioreactor under high irradiance was determined. Under continuous illumination of 2,100 µmol photons m^−2^ s^−1^ with red light emitting diodes (LEDs) the effect of dilution rate on photobioreactor productivity was studied. The light intensity used in this work is similar to the maximal irradiance on a horizontal surface at latitudes lower than 37°. Chlorella sorokiniana, a fast‐growing green microalga, was used as a reference strain in this study. The dilution rate was varied from 0.06 to 0.26 h^−1^. The maximal productivity was reached at a dilution rate of 0.24 h^−1^, with a value of 7.7 g dw m^−2^ h^−1^ (m^2^ of illuminated photobioreactor surface) and a volumetric productivity of 0.5 g dw L^−1^ h^−1^. At this dilution rate the biomass concentration inside the reactor was 2.1 g L^−1^ and the photosynthetic efficiency was 1.0 g dw mol photons. This biomass yield on light energy is high but still lower than the theoretical maximal yield of 1.8 g mol photons^−1^ which must be related to photosaturation and thermal dissipation of absorbed light energy. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2009; 104: 352–359 © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.