화학공학소재연구정보센터
Chemical Engineering Science, Vol.58, No.12, 2519-2527, 2003
Analysis of photobioreactors for culturing high-value microalgae and cyanobacteria via an advanced diagnostic technique: CARPT
Photosynthetic algal cultures are a potential source of many high-value products. In photobioreactors (PBR), the availability and the intensity of the light, which are affected by the cells' movement, are the major factors controlling the biomass productivity. Hydrodynamics, hence, play a significant role in the reactor's performance, as they determine not only the flow field, i.e. liquid flow and mixing, shear stresses, etc., but also the movements of the cells. In this work, computer-automated radioactive particle tracking (CARPT) technique was employed to evaluate its feasibility for characterizing PBRs. Liquid velocity profiles, cells' movement, and the temporal irradiance patterns obtained by coupling the cells' trajectories and the irradiance distribution model have been determined. The effects of the biomass concentration, reactor geometry, and the aeration rate on the irradiance patterns are discussed. The results demonstrate that the CARPT technique is promising for PBR analysis. It provides fundamental information needed to advance the cells' growth prediction and modeling, and the design, scale-up and operation of PBRs. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.