Production of Chlorella sp. in a Designed Photobioreactor

Abstract

Click here for manuscript sample template

Microalgae are photosynthetic microorganisms which are recently grown to produce biomass for food, pharmaceutical, dye, and bioenergy industries. Microalgae are the carbon source found in crude oil and natural gas. Over the years, there have been several advances in the design and operation of closed photobioreactors for microalgal cultures based on new reactor geometries as well as optimized aeration and mixing strategies. Closed photobioreactors ensure heat control, and high production through effective use of high-intensity light and prevent contamination in microalgae production. One of the most important factors that control cell growth in a photobioreactor is light availability. In this study, cultivation of Chlorella sp., as microalgae were performed in a specially designed photobioreactor for productivity analysis and the pigment capacity analysis. The applied light energy was kept constant while applying either continuous or intermittent lighting during the growth of microalgae. The cultivation parameters were tested to find the optimal light mode as the continuous light or 12h light/ 12h dark cycle to maximize pigment amount. In order to determine the pigment amount in the cultivated algae extraction was done. Then by using UV spectrophotometer amount of chlorophyll a and b were determined in the obtained extracts.

Keywords

• Microalgae,Chlorella sp.,Photobioreactor design,Extraction,Pigments

References

1. 1. Brasier, M. D., Green, O. R., Jephcoat, A. P., Kleppe, A. K., Van Kranendonk, M. J., Lindsay, J. F., ... & Grassineau, N. V. 2002. Questioning the evidence for Earth's oldest fossils. Nature, 416(6876), 76.
2. 2. Converti, A., Casazza, A. A., Ortiz, E. Y., Perego, P., & Del Borghi, M. 2009. Effect of temperature and nitrogen concentration on the growth and lipid content of Nannochloropsis oculata and Chlorella vulgaris for biodiesel production. Chemical Engineering and Processing: Process Intensification, 48(6), 1146-1151.7
3. 3. González‐Fernández, C., Sialve, B., Bernet, N., & Steyer, J. P. 2012. Impact of microalgae characteristics on their conversion to biofuel. Part I: Focus on cultivation and biofuel production. Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining, 6(1), 105-113.
4. 4. Safi, C., Zebib, B., Merah, O., Pontalier, P. Y., & Vaca-Garcia, C. 2014. Morphology, composition, production, processing and applications of Chlorella vulgaris: a review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 35, 265-278.
5. 5. Lee, R., Phycology. Cambridge [England]: Cambridge University Press., 4th ed., 1999, pp.213-217.
6. 6. Abu-Ghosh, S., Fixler, D., Dubinsky, Z. and Iluz, D. 2015. Continuous background light significantly increases flashing-light enhancement of photosynthesis and growth of microalgae. Bioresource Technology, 187, 144-148.
7. 7. Carvalho, A., Silva, S., Baptista, J. and Malcata, F. 2010. Light requirements in microalgal photobioreactors: an overview of biophotonic aspects. Applied Microbiology Biotechnology, 89(5), 1275-1288.
8. 8. Yılmaz, H. K. 2006. Mikroalg Üretimi için Fotobiyoreaktör Tasarımları. EÜ Su Ürünleri Dergisi, 23(1/2), 327-332.

9. 9. Walker, T. L., Purton, S., Becker, D. K., & Collet, C. 2005. Microalgae as bioreactors. Plant cell reports, 24(11), 629-641.
10. 10. Kim, J., Lee, J. and Lu, T. 2015. A model for autotrophic growth of Chlorella vulgaris under photolimitation and photoinhibition in cylindrical photobioreactor. Biochemical Engineering Journal, 99, 55-60.
11. 11. Andersen, R. A. (Ed.). 2005. Algal culturing techniques. Elsevier.
12. 12. ATCC Medium: 616 Medium BG-11 for Blue-green Algae, www.atcc.org
13. 13. Shuler, M. and Kargi, F., Bioprocess engineering. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall 2002.
14. 14. Jeffrey, S.W., Humphrey, G.F. 1975. New spectrophotometric equations for determining chlorophyll a, b, c1 and c2 in higher plants, algae and natural phytoplankton. Journal of Plant Biochemistry Physiology, 167, 191–194.
15. 15. Pottier, L., Pruvost, J., Deremetz, J., Cornet, J., Legrand, J. and Dussap, C. 2005. A fully predictive model for one-dimensional light attenuation by Chlamydomonas reinhardtii in a torus photobioreactor. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 91(5), 569-582.