Outdoor cultivation of Picochlorum sp. in a novel V-shaped photobioreactor on the Caribbean island Bonaire

Microalgae are a promising renewable feedstock that can be produced on non-arable land using seawater. Their biomass contains proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, and pigments, and can be used for various biobased products, such as food, feed, biochemicals, and biofuels. For such applications, the production costs need to be reduced, for example, by improving biomass productivity in photobioreactors. In this study, Picochlorum sp. (BPE23) was cultivated in a prototype of a novel outdoor V-shaped photobioreactor on Bonaire (12°N, 68°W). The novel photobioreactor design was previously proposed for t... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Rocca Chin-On
Mila de Boer
Cas van de Voort
Juliëtte Camstra
Maria Barbosa
René H. Wijffels
Marcel Janssen
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2024
Reihe/Periodikum: Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, Vol 12 (2024)
Verlag/Hrsg.: Frontiers Media S.A.
Schlagwörter: microalgae / photobioreactor / outdoor cultivation / biomass productivity / photoinhibition / temperature / Biotechnology / TP248.13-248.65
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-28973202
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2024.1347291

Microalgae are a promising renewable feedstock that can be produced on non-arable land using seawater. Their biomass contains proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, and pigments, and can be used for various biobased products, such as food, feed, biochemicals, and biofuels. For such applications, the production costs need to be reduced, for example, by improving biomass productivity in photobioreactors. In this study, Picochlorum sp. (BPE23) was cultivated in a prototype of a novel outdoor V-shaped photobioreactor on Bonaire (12°N, 68°W). The novel photobioreactor design was previously proposed for the capture and dilution of sunlight at low-latitude locations. During several months, the biomass productivity of the local thermotolerant microalgae was determined at different dilution rates in continuous dilution and batch dilution experiments, without any form of temperature control. Reactor temperatures increased to 35°C–45°C at midday. In the continuous dilution experiments, high average biomass productivities of 28–31 g m−2 d−1 and photosynthetic efficiencies of 3.5%–4.3% were achieved. In the batch dilution experiments, biomass productivities were lower (17–23 g m−2 d−1), as microalgal cells likely experienced sudden light and temperature stress after daily reactor dilution. Nonetheless, dense cultures were characterized by high maximum photosynthetic rates, illustrating the potential of Picochlorum sp. for fast growth under outdoor conditions.