Design, construction and evaluation of solarized airlift tubular photobioreactor

Abstract

An innovative photobioreactor is developed for growing algae in simulated conditions. The proposed design comprises of a continuous tubular irradiance loop and air induced liquid circulation with gas separation through air lift device. The unique features of air lift system are to ensure the shear free circulation of sensitive algal culture and induce light/dark cycles to the photosynthetic micro-organisms. The design strategy employs to model and construct a 20-liter laboratory scale unit using Boro-silicate glass tubing. The material is selected to ensure maximum photon transmission. All components of the device are designed to have flexibility to be replaced with an alternative design, providing fair chance of modification for future investigators. The principles of fluid mechanics are applied to describe geometrical attributes of the air lift system. Combination of LEDs and Florescent tube lights (Warm white) were used to illuminate the photosynthesis reaction area providing a possibility to control both illumination duration and light intensity. 200 Watt Solar PV system is designed to power up the device which included air pump (100 Watt) and illumination system (100 Watt). Algal strain Chlorella sp was inoculated in photobioreactor which was sparged with air and carbon dioxide. The growth was sustained in the batch mode with daily monitoring of temperature, pH and biomass concentration. The novel photobioreactor recorded a maximum experimental average yield of 0.65 g/l.day (11.3 g/m2.day) as compared to theoretical modeled yield of 0.82 g/l.day (14.26 g/m2.day), suggesting the device can be efficiently and cost-effectively employed in the production of algal biomass for biofuels, concomitantly mitigating CO2.