Abstract
This paper undertakes the description and assessment of various solutions applied for the design of photobioreactors as the type of apparatus, which can provide high output of green algae biomass. The design of such apparatus plays an important role in the context of the concurrent fulfillment of ecological and economic requirements, which are necessary to conduct an efficient and effective technology using cheap and easily accessible resources to produce different goods. Nowadays, algae is seen as one of the most promising sustainable way to produce energy in the future (biofuels, electricity, thermal energy) but technologies of biomass production and processing are still under development particularly to increase biomass and energy output. The cultivation costs in closed systems are still high, limiting their commercial applications to high-valued compounds but they can be reduced by efficient bioreactor designs, which are able to achieve high areal biomass productivities. This paper focuses on the advantages and drawbacks associated with the application of the particular types of bioreactors in algae production, description of their operation parameters and area for practical application, pointing of the constructions (tubular, flat panel, bubble column) that can contribute to improvement the profitability of large-scale production.
Highlights
Uncontrolled anthropogenic activities and technological revolution increase fossil fuel consumption at higher rate that prompted research related to the search for alternative energy sources to cover the current need and future demand of energy
In last few decades biomass of terrestrial crops has been studied as a promising source of renewable energy but large scale production is still debatable issue because of indirect use of fossil fuel, lower productivity, lack of availability of land which are usually intended for food production
The second stage of production is designed to expose the cells to the stress of nutrients, which should initiate the synthesis of desired metabolites and lipid products and it is realized in cultivation ponds
Summary
Uncontrolled anthropogenic activities and technological revolution increase fossil fuel consumption at higher rate that prompted research related to the search for alternative energy sources to cover the current need and future demand of energy. In the areas with high level of insolation, the incident light (>100,000 lux) can led to the thermal shock and algal cells bleaching, which causes the decrease of production efficiency [7, 17] In this respect, microalgae cultivation conducted in the closed system (photobioreactors) can prove to be more effective. Bubble column and airlift photobioreactor designs, as well as others, such as fermenter, flat panel and spiral tube designs are more complex than the open equivalents, and the cultivations realized in them are considered as much more cost-intensive [9,16] Such a cost is associated with the necessity of gaining sufficient space inside the room for installations, higher energy consumption, need of medium sterilization and the necessary service cost conducted by staff with adequate skills and qualifications. Apart from this, activities are undertaken with the aim of reducing the high cost associated with the investment and fluid pumping, light demand, cooling, draining and drying of biomass in such a manner that the resulting system could be competitive in relation to the open systems, which have a predominant share in the market
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