Production of Chlorella sp. in a Designed Photobioreactor

Abstract

Microalgae are photosynthetic microorganisms that are recently grown to produce biomass for food,pharmaceutical, dye, and bioenergy industries. Microalgae are the carbon source found in crude oil andnatural gas. Over the years, there have been several advances in the design and operation of closedphotobioreactors for microalgal cultures based on new reactor geometries as well as optimized aerationand mixing strategies. Closed photobioreactors ensure heat control, and high productivity througheffective use of high-intensity light and prevent contamination in microalgae production. One of themost important factors that control cell growth in a photobioreactor is light availability. In this study, thecultivation of Chlorella sp., as microalgae were performed in a specially designed photobioreactor forproductivity analysis and pigment capacity analysis. The applied light energy was kept constant whileapplying either continuous or intermittent lighting during the growth of microalgae. The cultivationparameters were tested to find the optimal light mode as the continuous light or 12h light/ 12h darkcycle to maximize pigment amount. In order to determine the pigment amount in the cultivated algaeextraction was done. Then by using UV spectrophotometer amount of chlorophyll a and b weredetermined in the obtained extracts.