Scale-down of microalgae cultivations in tubular photo-bioreactors—A conceptual approach

A novel method using CFD to optimize the inner structure parameters of flat photobioreactors

“…Thus, the parameters selected to investigate the mixing and light reception still need to be studied further. Sastre et al (2007) applied a scaled-down method to study the interaction between light transfer, fluid dynamics, and microbial metabolism; the findings have aided the kinetic optimization of photobioreactor.…”

Hurdles and challenges for modelling and control of microalgae for CO2 mitigation and biofuel production

“…Indeed, at the scale of the cell, depending on the hydrodynamical regime, the cell successively perceives high light intensity (at the surface) and darkness (at the bottom). The question of the light for which cells are photoadapted is therefore crucial, and it is clearly an open problem (Yoshimoto et al, 2005;Pruvost et al, 2006;Perner-Nochta and Posten, 2007;Rosello Sastre et al, 2007).…”

“…Photoadaptation is a key phenomenon through which the algae adapts its photon harvesting system to light intensity. However, depending on the hydrodynamical regime, a cell can have a significantly different perception of light signal (Luo and Al-Dahhan, 2004;Rosello Sastre et al, 2007;Pruvost et al, 2006). The average light received, together with the frequency of commutation between reactor dark zone and high light can significantly differ from reactor and hydrodynamical regimes.…”

Microalgae and terrestrial biomass as source for fuels—A process view

“…So this comes close to the amount actually harvested at the end. However, ongoing research in the reactor field is promising and will lead to cheaper and more energy-effective designs (Rosello Sastre et al, 2007). Actually, several pilot plants have been set up in the last 2 years which show productivities of more than 100 g/(L d) which would mean 365 t/(ha y) (Pulz, 2007), although until now such values have not been reached as a time-average value for larger areas.…”