Growth of algal biomass in laboratory and in large-scale algal photobioreactors in the temperate climate of western Germany.
Growth of Chlorella vulgaris was characterized as a function of irradiance in a laboratory turbidostat (1L) and compared to batch growth in sunlit modules (5-25L) of the commercial NOVAgreen photobioreactor. The effects of variable sunlight and culture density were deconvoluted by a mathematical model. The analysis showed that algal growth was light-limited due to shading by external construction elements and due to light attenuation within the algal bags. The model was also used to predict maximum biomass productivity. The manipulative experiments and the model predictions were confronted with data from a production season of three large-scale photobioreactors: NOVAgreen (<36,000L), IGV (2,500-3,500L), and Phytolutions (28,000L). The analysis confirmed light-limitation in all three photobioreactors. An additional limitation of the biomass productivity was caused by the nitrogen starvation that was used to induce lipid accumulation. Reduction of shading and separation of biomass and lipid production are proposed for future optimization.
Institute of Bio- and Geosciences/Plant Sciences (IBG-2), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße, 52428 Jülich, Germany.
Christina
C
Schreiber
Institute of Bio- and Geosciences/Plant Sciences (IBG-2), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße, 52428 Jülich, Germany.
Dominik
D
Behrendt
Institute of Bio- and Geosciences/Plant Sciences (IBG-2), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße, 52428 Jülich, Germany.
Gregor
G
Huber
Institute of Bio- and Geosciences/Plant Sciences (IBG-2), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße, 52428 Jülich, Germany.
Christian
C
Pfaff
Institute of Bio- and Geosciences/Plant Sciences (IBG-2), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße, 52428 Jülich, Germany.
Janka
J
Widzgowski
Institute of Bio- and Geosciences/Plant Sciences (IBG-2), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße, 52428 Jülich, Germany.
Bärbel
B
Ackermann
Institute of Bio- and Geosciences/Plant Sciences (IBG-2), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße, 52428 Jülich, Germany.
Andreas
A
Müller
Institute of Bio- and Geosciences/Plant Sciences (IBG-2), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße, 52428 Jülich, Germany; Laboratory of Cell Cycles of Algae, Center AlgaTech, Institute of Microbiology CAS, Opatovický mlýn, 37981 Třeboň, Czech Republic.
Vilém
V
Zachleder
Institute of Bio- and Geosciences/Plant Sciences (IBG-2), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße, 52428 Jülich, Germany; Institute of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, Ke Karlovu 5, 12116 Praha 2, Czech Republic.
Šárka
Š
Moudříková
Institute of Bio- and Geosciences/Plant Sciences (IBG-2), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße, 52428 Jülich, Germany; Institute of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, Ke Karlovu 5, 12116 Praha 2, Czech Republic.
Peter
P
Mojzeš
Institute of Bio- and Geosciences/Plant Sciences (IBG-2), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße, 52428 Jülich, Germany.
Ulrich
U
Schurr
Institute of Bio- and Geosciences/Plant Sciences (IBG-2), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße, 52428 Jülich, Germany; Department of Plant Sciences, University of the Free State, P.O. Box 339, Bloemfontein 9300, South Africa.
Johan
J
Grobbelaar
Institute of Bio- and Geosciences/Plant Sciences (IBG-2), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße, 52428 Jülich, Germany. Electronic address: l.nedbal@fz-juelich.de.
Ladislav
L
Nedbal
D018533:Biomass; D048408:Chlorella vulgaris; D002980:Climate; D058086:Microalgae; D058433:Photobioreactors
Batch cultivation; Chlorella vulgaris; Mathematical model; Microalgae; Photobioreactor; Scale-up