Technical Papers and Presentations

Microalgae can be directly used in health food or as biofilters for waste water treatment. They also have numerous commercial applications in cosmetics, aquaculture and chemical industry as a source of highly valuable molecules, e.g., polyunsaturated fatty acids, and they are increasingly recognized as a promising source for biodiesel production. To realize the full potential of microalgae, optimal operating conditions for their cultivation in photo-bioreactors (PBR) need to be identified in order to maximize productivity, lipid content, and efficiency of photosynthesis. Using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations, the presented study aims at optimizing the most important parameters affecting PBR performance, which are reactor shape, light intensity distribution, algae growth and other metabolic properties. Specifically, flat panel photo-bioreactors with turbulent mixing due to air sparging and one-sided lighting are studied. In addition, light intensity distributions are calculated inside the PBR, based on absorption and light scattering by algae and gas bubbles.