title: Development of a novel multi-column airlift photobioreactor with easy scalability by means of computational fluid dynamics simulations and experiments.
abstract: Aiming to culture algae with high efficiency, a novel vertical multi-column airlift photobioreactor (VMAPBR) has been developed. It was constructed with a series of vertically arranged parallel columns with easy scalability. The hydrodynamic, irradiation and shear stress characteristics of the photobioreactor were studied by computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Accordingly, the optimal aeration manner and aeration rate were determined. When the novel airlift PBR was alternately aerated with aeration rate of 0.2vvm, the biomass concentration of Chlorella pyrenoidosa under outdoor condition reached 1.30gL-1within the prototype PBR and was further increased to 1.56gL-1within the optimized PBR. The result of cultivation experiment had good agreement with that of CFD prediction.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, PR China.
authors.forename: Jianke
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, PR China.
authors.forename: Jiangguo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ying
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, PR China.
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, PR China.
authors.forename: Qijian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: JiaxingZeyuan Bio-products Co., Ltd., Jiaxing 314007, PR China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, PR China. Electronic address: ygli@ecust.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yuanguang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D018533:Biomass; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D002708:Chlorella / Q000254:growth & development*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004867:Equipment Design; D057446:Hydrodynamics; D058086:Microalgae / Q000254:growth & development*; D058433:Photobioreactors
keywords: Chlorella cultivation; Computational fluid dynamics; Hydrodynamic; Novel airlift PBR; Optimization; Pilot-scale