Cultivating Spirulina maxima: Innovative Approaches

Abstract

This chapter reports an annual production of Spirulina (Arthrospira) maxima in Ansan, South Korea (37.287°N, 126.833°E) with temperate four seasons climate for testing industrial application. Construction on pilot plant of semi-open raceway system (ORS) with each 20 ton culture volume has been established in early 2011 based on building information modeling (BIM). An optimized design of pilot culture system for microalgae scale-up culture in temperate area and details of culture was presented. In scale-up trials using two ORSs, the strain displayed satisfactory annual growth under batch condition. In an annual trial, average biomass concentration was recorded at 0.99 ± 0.16 g/L, which showed stable productivity in a year. Maximum concentration was estimated at 1.418 ± 0.09 g/L in August, while minimum production was estimated at 0.597 ± 0.05 g/L in October. Despite insufficient solar radiation and nutrients, ORS was favorable for S. maxima production. The technical strategies contribute to the annual production of S. maxima in this region: controlling the culture temperature, reducing production cost, and retrospective climatic data-based BIM construction of the greenhouse. Consequently, pilot production of S. maxima was feasible in Korean climates, a region previously thought to be outside its geographic limits.

Year-Round Cultivation of Tetraselmis sp. for Essential Lipid Production in a Semi-Open Raceway System

“…Unfortunately, there are few commercially feasible ORSs for biomass production in Korea [29]. For industrial applications such as biodiesel, health food, animal feed, and fertilizers, it is not only important to have high algal biomass productivity but also to maintain year-round biochemical compositions [2,30].…”

“…However, the Korean climate has high seasonal variability, with high temperatures and rainfall in the summer and low temperatures in autumn and winter, limiting year-round microalgae cultivation. Thus, commercial cultivation of microalgae with ORSs in Korea requires the control of water temperature, selection of suitable microalgae species and culture medium, elevation of biomass productivity, maintenance of biochemical compositions, and technology for preventing contamination [24,29,31,32]. In 2011, we established ORSs in which open raceway ponds were installed in a greenhouse (so called semi-ORSs).…”

Cyanobacterial Biomass Produced in the Wastewater of the Dairy Industry and Its Evaluation in Anaerobic Co-Digestion with Cattle Manure for Enhanced Methane Production

“…Rizzo et al [80], using the Zarrouk medium in A. platensis cultures with a light intensity of 150 µmol photons m 2 s −1 , obtained maximum productivity of 0.104 g L −1 d −1 . Kim et al [81] cultivated A. maxima for one year in semi-open raceway systems, the lowest productivity obtained in these systems was 0.142 g L −1 d −1 , and the highest was 0.314 g L −1 d −1 . However, studies with higher productivity, such as that described by Michael et al [82], who cultivate Arthrospira fusiformis (Voronichin) Komárek and J.W.G.…”

Identification and Study of a Promising Cyanobacteria Species for Biotechnological Applications

“…Additionally, the biomass production of these microorganisms has little impact on the environment, the means of cultivation for cyanobacteria are generally cheaper, with low consumption of water and energy in the production process, without the need to use agricultural areas, and normally has a high yield per area [9,10]. Thus, expanding the studies of these raw materials to the field of biotechnology becomes paramount in this context, and in this project, it brings the advantage of evaluating and using a promising new species of cyanobacteria as an alternative raw material for industrial application.…”