Modeling the growth of microalgae Spirulina sp. with application of illuminance and magnetic field

Abstract

AbstractBACKGROUNDThere is a lack of studies that investigate the application of magnetic field in microalgae cultures in the literature. Aiming to understand the effects of the application of magnetic field, along with illuminance, on the growth of microalgae, an accurate first‐principles mathematical model must be designed and evaluated. Furthermore, the parameters associated with illuminance and magnetic field in the new model must be obtained through a reliable and robust parameter estimation procedure, since for magnetic field effects there are no models and parameters reported in the literature.RESULTSA new model for microalga growth with application of illuminance and magnetic field was designed to predict biomass productivity. Fourteen different Verhulst‐based mathematical equations were proposed and compared. The results showed the significant influence of the illuminance and magnetic field on the microalga growth and indicated that the designed model accurately fitted the experimental data.CONCLUSIONSA new model to predict microalga growth with application of illuminance and magnetic field was designed considering two new parameters, KI and KM, affinity of a microorganism to illuminance and magnetic field, respectively, in a Verhulst‐based equation. The parameters were accurately estimated though a hybrid combination of particle swarm optimization and nonlinear least‐squares algorithms, allowing the model to accurately predict microalga growth. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry