Process optimization of microalgae cultivation in a bubble-column photobioreactor

Abstract

A process optimization was performed in this study to obtain the values of the geometry and process parameters that provide an optimum average microalgae concentration in an internally illuminated bubble-column photobioreactor. A phenomenological model of the photobioreactor is used to simulate the process in the reactor. The model considers gas-phase mass balance and liquid-phase mass balances accompanied by the rates of CO2 and nutrient intakes in liquid phase. The process optimization gives the values of the small and large cylinder diameters, the culture height, the inlet air flowrate, the CO2 mole fraction in the inlet air and the initial microalgae concentration that promotes the microalgae growth to 0.773 g/L from 0.2 g/L for less than four days.