title: Enhancement of lipid productivity by adopting multi-stage continuous cultivation strategy in Nannochloropsis gaditana.
abstract: In the present study, a novel process-based cultivation system was designed to improve lipid productivity of Nannochloropsis gaditana, an oleaginous microalga that has high potential for biofuel production. Specifically, four flat-panel photobioreactors were connected in series, and this system was subjected to continuous chemostat cultivation by feeding fresh medium to the first reactor at dilution rates of 0.028 and 0.056day-1, which were determined based on Monod kinetics. The results show that the serially connected photobioreactor system achieved 20.0% higher biomass productivity and 46.1% higher fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) productivity than a conventional single photobioreactor with equivalent dilution rate. These results suggest that a process-based approach using serially connected photobioreactors for microalgal cultivation can improve the productivity of lipids that can be used for biofuel production.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Min-Gyu
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Sung
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Bongsoo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Corporate R&D Research Park, LG Chem, 188 Munji-ro, Yeseong-gu, Daejeon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Chul Woong
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Kibok
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nam
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea; Advanced Biomass R&D Center, #2502 Building W1-3, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: ychang@kaist.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Yong Keun
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Chang
mesh_terms: D056804:Biofuels / Q000382:microbiology; D018533:Biomass; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000096:biosynthesis; D007700:Kinetics; D008055:Lipids / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D058086:Microalgae / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D009566:Nitrates / Q000032:analysis; D058433:Photobioreactors / Q000382:microbiology; D058009:Stramenopiles / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D005227:Fatty Acids; D008055:Lipids; D009566:Nitrates
keywords: Biodiesel; Chemostat; Microalgae; Photobioreactor; Stage cultivation