closed and open, in which the disadvantage of one PBR is complemented by the
other (Brennan and Owende 2010). These configurations aim to compensate the
drawbacks caused by the limitation of surface/volume ratio and scale-up of open
and closed conventional photobioreactors. These systems are based on a proper
height/diameter ratio, generating configurations of reactors with heavy workloads in
contrast to very long tubes or shallow ponds. The main advantages of these photobioreactors include low use of land area with high culture volume, low operating
costs and are potential to scaling-up. On the other hand, this type of configuration is
limited to the cultivation of microalgae species with the ability to store energy to
sustain cell growth for periods in the dark, without affecting the rate of photosynthetic metabolism (Ramírez-Mérida et al. 2017).
The biomass productivities found in microalgae cultivation with these photobioreactors are shown in Table 6. All these systems are relatively new, and
therefore, only a limited number of studies are found in the literature and are
restricted to laboratory scale.
5 Criteria for the Selection of Microalgae Cultivation
System
According to Chang et al. (2017), the main criteria to be considered in the choice of
an ideal photobioreactor are as follows: (i) type and quality of the target product;
(ii) tolerance of microalgal strains; and (iii) scale and performance versus cost.
The first criterion to be considered is the type and quality of the desired product.
For the biofuel production, it is essential to produce a biomass rich in lipid or
carbohydrate with a low cost to be competitive with conventional fossil fuels. In
this case, a heterotrophic bioreactor integrated into a biorefinery system can be a
good choice due to the high productivity, low cost, and low-land demand.
Table 6 Biomass productivities in emergent photobioreactors
Microalgae
Photobioreactor
Total
volume (L)
Productivity
(g/L/d)
References
Chlorella
vulgaris
Biofilm
photobioreactor
20.3
0.015
Tao et al. (2017)
Chlorella
vulgaris
Biofilm
photobioreactor
0.6–0.7
7.07
Pruvost et al.
(2017)
Chlorella
vulgaris
Membrane
photobioreactor
25
0.06
Marbella et al.
(2014)
Chlorella
vulgaris
Membrane
photobioreactor
10
0.04
Gao et al. (2014)
Chlorella
vulgaris
Hybrid
photobioreactor
1
0.05
Heidari et al.
(2016)
Chlorella
vulgaris
Hybrid
photobioreactor
1.5
0.66
Jacob-Lopes et al.
(2014)
2 Microalgal Production Systems with Highlights …
25
other (Brennan and Owende 2010). These configurations aim to compensate the
drawbacks caused by the limitation of surface/volume ratio and scale-up of open
and closed conventional photobioreactors. These systems are based on a proper
height/diameter ratio, generating configurations of reactors with heavy workloads in
contrast to very long tubes or shallow ponds. The main advantages of these photobioreactors include low use of land area with high culture volume, low operating
costs and are potential to scaling-up. On the other hand, this type of configuration is
limited to the cultivation of microalgae species with the ability to store energy to
sustain cell growth for periods in the dark, without affecting the rate of photosynthetic metabolism (Ramírez-Mérida et al. 2017).
The biomass productivities found in microalgae cultivation with these photobioreactors are shown in Table 6. All these systems are relatively new, and
therefore, only a limited number of studies are found in the literature and are
restricted to laboratory scale.
5 Criteria for the Selection of Microalgae Cultivation
System
According to Chang et al. (2017), the main criteria to be considered in the choice of
an ideal photobioreactor are as follows: (i) type and quality of the target product;
(ii) tolerance of microalgal strains; and (iii) scale and performance versus cost.
The first criterion to be considered is the type and quality of the desired product.
For the biofuel production, it is essential to produce a biomass rich in lipid or
carbohydrate with a low cost to be competitive with conventional fossil fuels. In
this case, a heterotrophic bioreactor integrated into a biorefinery system can be a
good choice due to the high productivity, low cost, and low-land demand.
Table 6 Biomass productivities in emergent photobioreactors
Microalgae
Photobioreactor
Total
volume (L)
Productivity
(g/L/d)
References
Chlorella
vulgaris
Biofilm
photobioreactor
20.3
0.015
Tao et al. (2017)
Chlorella
vulgaris
Biofilm
photobioreactor
0.6–0.7
7.07
Pruvost et al.
(2017)
Chlorella
vulgaris
Membrane
photobioreactor
25
0.06
Marbella et al.
(2014)
Chlorella
vulgaris
Membrane
photobioreactor
10
0.04
Gao et al. (2014)
Chlorella
vulgaris
Hybrid
photobioreactor
1
0.05
Heidari et al.
(2016)
Chlorella
vulgaris
Hybrid
photobioreactor
1.5
0.66
Jacob-Lopes et al.
(2014)
2 Microalgal Production Systems with Highlights …
25