Cultivation of Chlorella vulgaris in Column Photobioreactor for Biomass Production and Lipid Accumulation

Abstract

Microalgae have been used as energy resources in recent decades to mitigate the global energy crisis. As the demand for pure microalgae strains for commercial use increases, designing an effective photobioreactor (PBR) for mass cultivation is important. Chlorella vulgaris, a local freshwater microalga, was used to study the algal biomass cultivation and lipid production using various PBR configurations (bubbling, air-lift, porous air-lift). The results show that a bubbling column design is a better choice for the cultivation of Chlorella vulgaris than an air-lift one. The highest biomass concentration in the bubbling PBR was 0.78 g/L while the air-lift PBR had a value of 0.09 g/L. Key operating parameters, including draft-tube length and bubbling flowrate, were then optimized based on biomass production and lipid yield. The highest lipid content was in the porous air-lift PBR and the air-lift PBR with shorter draft tube (35 cm) was also better than a longer one (50 cm) for algal cultivation, but the microalgae attachment on the inner tube of PBR always occurred. The highest biomass concentration could be produced under the highest gas flowrate of 2.7 L/min, whereas the lowest dry cell mass was under the lowest gas flowrate of 0.2 L/min.

Nitrous Oxide Abatement Coupled with Biopolymer Production As a Model GHG Biorefinery for Cost-Effective Climate Change Mitigation

“…In this sense, the internal draft tube of the ALR may have avoided a proper liquid mixing, which ultimately resulted in a poor nutrient distribution and a lower biomass growth compared to the BCR. This phenomenon was previously observed by Wong and co-workers25 during the operation of two ALRs with different draft tube lengths (35 and 50 cm) and a BCR for Chlorella vulgaris cultivation. The authors recorded higher biomass concentrations in the BCR and in the ALR with the shorter draft tube as a result of a better liquid mixing (i.e.…”

Maximization of Astaxanthin Production from Green Microalga <i>Haematococcus pluvialis</i> Using Internally-Illuminated Photobioreactor

“…Subcultures of the algal cells were made weekly. Photobioreactor design was used with slight adjustment as in Figure 1 and 2 [28][29][30]. In brief, the dimension of the photobioreactor was 75 cm (height) × 20 cm (diameter).…”

Response of Chlorella vulgaris as Whole cell Bioindicator for Atrazine and 2 4 Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid Detection

“…Chlorella vulgaris is unicellular organism and it is one of the most popular deliberated and researched algae species. It is one of the fastest growing microalgae which is available in wide range of aquatic environment [3,4]. It often used as bioindicator because of its ability to respond quickly and high sensitivity towards toxicants which are mostly herbicides [5].…”