PHOTOBIOREACTORS

Istituto per lo Studio degli Ecosistemi

G. Torzillo

Lesson 3th –December 17th, 2014 torzillo@ise.cnr.it

Spirulina, Dunaliella, Chlorella .

1) Because they grown in very selective media, as a

result cultures are protected from contamination

2) This makes it possible to grow them in

relatively cheap culture systems (open ponds).
 The use of closed system is mandatory for microalgal species
growing in non-selective media (e.g. BG11). In that case the
risk of contamination in open ponds is very high.
1) Problems caused by rainfall which dilutes the culture
medium and facilitate the growth of other competing
organisms.

2) Difficulty in maintaining the optimal temperature for the

culture during the day and throughout the year;

3) Low biomass concentration (usually below 0.5 g/l).

4) Low light availability to the cells due to a low surface-
to-volume ratio (less than 10 m-1), which reduces
volumetric productivity. i.e, daily biomass increase.
5) Difficulty in achieving an efficient control over the
process.
Florence, 1978-1980
 Cadarache (France)
Porphyridium Gudin and Chaumond al. 1982
Plexiglass photobioreactors made with tubes of 7.4 cm i.d.
(left) and 13.1 cm (right). Florence, 1986.
Overlapping tubes (Torzillo et al.
vertical arrangement, ISE-CNR,
Florence, 1986)
 Torzillo et al., Biotechnol
Torzillo et al. Biomass, 1984
Bioeng (1992)
Biomass yields of Spirulina platensis cultivated in photobioreactors
and open ponds (CNR-ISE, 1986).
MAIN PARAMETERS AFFECTING
THE PERFORMANCE OF TUBULAR
PHOTOBIOREACTORS

1) Diameter of tubing

2) Length of tube reactor

3) Mixing of the culture

4) Circulating device
 INFLUENCE OF TUBE DIAMETER ON THE
PHOTOBIOREACTOR PERFORMANCE
1) The light uptake of the culture

2) The biomass concentration at which the culture can be

operated and, consequently, the harvesting costs

3) The volumetric productivity of the culture

4) The temperature course of the culture

5) The concentration of O2 in the reactor

6) The CO2 storage capacity of the bioreactor

7)The flow pattern and head loss for culture

recycling in the reactor
PRODUCTIVITY OF SPIRULINA CULTURES ACHIEVED IN
TUBULAR PHOTOBIOREACTORS MADE WITH TUBES OF
VARIOUR DIAMETERS. (Data from ISE-FI)

Tube Litre/m Litre/m2 Areal Surface- Optimal Net Vol.

diameter (tube (tube Ө biomass to - biomass Prod.
(mm) length) surface) (g dry Volume Conc. (g/l/d)
wt/m2) Ratio (g/litre)
(S/V)
(m-1) Yield
g/m2/d
140 15.4 110 60 9 0.55 0.200
22
131 13.3 102 60 10 0.6 0.220
22.4
74 4.3 58 60 17 1.0 0.350
20.3
50 1.96 39 60 25 1.5 0.500
19.5
25 0.49 19.6 60 50 3.5 1.500
29.4
.
CIRCULATING DEVICE

PUMPS

AIR- LIFT
Main advantages offered by air-lift system

Low shear

Relative simplicity of construction

No moving parts in the liquid

Possibility to achieve high oxygen degassing

Influence of gas flow rate on Reynolds number (Nre) and
liquid flow rate in a 140 m long air-lift tubular
photobioreactor (i.d. = 2.6 cm). The heights of gas risers
were :  = 3.65 m ;  = 2.65 m ;  = 1.65 m.
CNR-ISE
 Table 2. Permissible combinations of culture speed and length of a 2.6
cm i.d. tubing to maintain oxygen concentration below the inhibitory
level of 30 mg/l for Spirulina.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
V (m/s) 0.2 0.3 0.6 0.8

L (m) 80 120 240 320

------------------------------------------------------------------
Note:  = 0.03 h-1; X= 3.5 g/l ; T = 35° C

 x Tc
O2 prod (g/l) = -------------------
Yo
H= V 2/2g rate
 = growth + V
(h
2 2
) s L/(2g D) + V N b/2g
-1

X = biomass concentration (g/l)

Tc = is the time cycle of the reactor (h)
Yo = ratio between the biomass synthesized and the oxygen produced
(dimensionless). For Spirulina grown with nitrate Yo = 0.507 (i.e. 1.97 g of O2
are produced for 1 g of biomass)
Examples of Scaled-up Tubular
PBR
Southern Italy: 12 Km tubes. 2012-2015.
Cost of the
photobioreactor: 15-20
$/liter (Pulz, personal
communication)
Biomass sold at
80$/Kg
 Almeria, Spain (Molina Grima, 2009)

-9-cm Plexiglas tubes arranged in a fence-like structure.

-Riser: 3.2-m-high
-Culture circulation through centrifugal pumps.
-Culture : Nannochloropsis (Prod. 0-3-0.4 g/l/day)
-Biomass cost = about € 25 /Kg.
-To reduce costs below € 0.5 /Kg, the cost of the PBR
-should drop to € 1/litre.
ALMERIA (SPAIN) Courtesy of
Molina Grima.
Production of “Astaxanthin” Israel.
Courtesy of Prof. S. Boussiba.

Synthetic Astaxanthin
2.000 US$/Kg Niche market
(2 tons/y)
Nutraceuticals
(vitamins,
antioxidants,
drugs)
 1.6 cm thick

Florence, Italy (Tredici et al. 1991. Bioresource

Technology
Flat photobioreactors for outdoor culture of microalgae, Israel 1994 (Richmond courtesy)
 Germany (1992)
(O.Pulz courtesy)

+ + +
 Flat panels at Arizona State University (USA)
Main characteristics:
Light path = 2.5-30 cm
Yield (oil)= 60 gm-2 day-1
(i.e. 150 g m-2 day-1 (40% oil)??????
(Courtesy of Chini-Zittelli)
 Subitek GmbH (http://en.subitec.com)
Flat Panel Airlift (FPA) photobioreactor
a) c)

b)
PVC or PETG shells, 2.7-m-high, 5–cm-thick, 1.75-long-reactor containing 180
litres of culture.

Reactor cost ~ 1 €/litre ~ 40 €/m2

Subitek GmbH is planning the construction of a 0.5 ha (180 m3) in Spain.

Biomass production cost of €4.2 /Kg (assuming 120 t ha-1 year-1)

Thanks to Chini-Zittelli et al. 2011)
 Ecoduna OG (Hainburg, Austria) (www.ecoduna.com)

“Hanging gardens”

Courtesy of Ecoduna

The unit consists of 6-m- high rigid Poly-methyl methacrylate (PMMA)

or Poly carbonat (PC) (6 m high) panels supported by a structure which
allows them to rotate on the horizontal plane to track sun.

-Culture mixing is achieved by gently bubbling CO2

which is also the source of carbon.
Surface to volume ratio: 32 m2/ 0.44 m3 = 73 m-1
 ECODUNA ELABORATION (Personal info)

Plant of 1 ha (10 years) 0pen Pond TPBR Ecoduna

Photo active volume in % 16% 60% 100%

PBR costs / ha 900.000 9.500.000 4.100.000

Greenhouse - 500.000

Total costs 900.000 9.500.000 4.600.000

Production days/year 240 340 340

Biomass t/ha/y 42 100 278

Costs /l/ oil 4,73 19.00 3,15

Important: ecoduna is continuously working on betterments;
therefore, we expect a produced biomass (tons/ha/y) of 320 in 2014 and 420 in 2017.
 Green Wall Panel (GWP)
(Fotosynthetica & Microbiologica Sr.L., Italy)
-Cost: € 50/m2

By removing the grids, and

reducting bag height to 0.7 m

Cost 25 € /m2

Further improvement (?)

Cost = 5 €/m2
Material: 0.3-mm-think flexible LDPE film
Dimension: 1-m-high, 4-cm-thick, 20-m-long, 800 litres of culture.
Distance between panels: 1-m wall-to-wall (to prevent shading most of the year
Nannochloropsis (50% oil): 20 t oil/ha/year (40 t biomass/ha/year)
Thanks to Chini-Zittelli, Rodolfi L-. Bassi N., Tredici M. (2011)
 Solix Biofluels®)(www.solixbiofluel.com)

A demo plant of 0.3 ha (150 m3) at

Coyote Gulch (Southern Colorado)

A series of vertical flexible plastic panels summerged in a shallow pond which

provided both mechanical support and temperature control. Designed to take
advantage of “Light lamination effect”
The cost of large scale oil production with this technology is estimated to be US$
1/litre. Solix claims that with their technology have reached 29 t oil/ha/year
Expected problems:
1) de-synchronization between light and temperature;
2) technical problems ( to replace panels), water contamination.
Main advantages of thin-layer culture

1) High biomass concentration (> 10 g/l)

2) High volumetric productivity (2-3 g/l/day)

3) Lower cost for biomass harvesting

Disadvantages

1) Higher cost for mixing (pumps)

2) High investment cost (100 €/m2, ?? )
3) Tecnhology proved only with Chlorella and
Scenedesmus, which are resistant to photoinhibition)
Parameter or issue Open ponds and raceways Photobioreactors (PBR)
Required space High For PBR itself low
Water loss Very high, salt precipitation Low
CO2 loss High, depending on pond depth Low
Oxygen concentration Low High
Temperature Highly variable High, cooling often required
Shear Low (gentle mixing) High through pump.
Cleaning Required time to time Required, wall growth and dirty reduce light
penetration.
Contamination risk High, a limited number of species can be Low
grown.
Biomass quality Variable Reproducible
Biomass concentration Low, between 0.1 and 0.5 g/l High, between 2 and 8 g/l
Production flexibility Only few species can be grown, difficult to High, switching possible
switch
Process control Limited Possible
Weather dependence production Light, Temperature, rainfall Medium (light intensity, cooling required
Start up 6 - 8 weeks 2 - 4 weeks
Capital costs High – US$ 100.000 /Ha Very high US$ 1.000.000/Ha including
supporting system
Operating costs Low paddle wheel, CO2 addition Very high ( CO2 addition, pH-control, O2
removal, cooling cleaning, maintenance
Harvesting cost High, species dependent Lower because of high biomass concentration.
Current commercial applications 5.000 t of algal biomass per year Limited to processes for high added value
compounds
Wijffels and Barbosa (2019)
Biofuels, Bioprod. Bioref.
 CONCLUSION

There is no need to design

New Photobioreactors,
rather we should concentrate
our efforts on PBR that are
cost-effective.
Questions?/
Preguntas?