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Different Types of Photobioreactor

There are two main types of photobioreactors used to cultivate algae - open pond systems and closed systems. Open pond systems use shallow outdoor ponds and are either raceway ponds, which circulate the algae using paddlewheels, or circular ponds, which have stirring blades in the center. Closed systems contain the algae indoors within containers, pumping in CO2, and include tubular reactors, bubble column reactors, vertical column photobioreactors, and flat plate reactors, each with different configurations to optimize sunlight exposure and mixing.

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137 views

Different Types of Photobioreactor

There are two main types of photobioreactors used to cultivate algae - open pond systems and closed systems. Open pond systems use shallow outdoor ponds and are either raceway ponds, which circulate the algae using paddlewheels, or circular ponds, which have stirring blades in the center. Closed systems contain the algae indoors within containers, pumping in CO2, and include tubular reactors, bubble column reactors, vertical column photobioreactors, and flat plate reactors, each with different configurations to optimize sunlight exposure and mixing.

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DIFFERENT TYPES OF PHOTOBIOREACTOR

A. OPEN POND SYSTEMS


Open pond systems use shallow (typically one-foot deep) ponds, from about one acre to several acres in
size, in which the algae are exposed to natural solar radiation (sunlight) which they convert into biomass.
There are two types of open pond systems: 1) Race way ponds and 2) Circular Ponds. Typically, the ponds
are called raceway ponds because their shape resembles a race track. They often use paddle wheels or
other water moving devices to keep the algae circulating.
The harvesting method is often a two stage process based on the particular properties of the algae and
requirements of the process. A fraction of the pond water is generally harvested every day, and the algal
biomass within the water is concentrated. The biomass is then processed further, for example to extract the
oil for to conversion into biodiesel, jet fuel, or some other oil-based product. The residues, or even the
entire biomass, can also be dried and used for animal feeds.
The pond is divided into a rectangular grid, with each rectangle containing one channel in the shape of an
oval, like an automotive raceway circuit. From above, many ponds look like a maze. Each rectangle
contains a paddle wheel to make the water flow continuously around the circuit.
A.1 RACEWAY PONDS
The ponds in which the algae are cultivated are usually what are called the raceway ponds. In these
ponds, the algae, water & nutrients circulate around a racetrack. With paddlewheels providing the flow,
algae are kept suspended in the water, and are circulated back to the surface on a regular frequency. The
ponds are usually kept shallow because the algae need to be exposed to sunlight, and sunlight can only
penetrate the pond water to a limited depth. The ponds are operated in a continuous manner, with CO2 and
nutrients being constantly fed to the ponds, while algae-containing water is removed at the other end.

Raceway Pond
A.2 CIRCULAR PONDS
Circular ponds were the first ones used to foster algae (Hakeem, Jawaid, & Rashid, 2014). These has
stirring blades in the center to ensure movement of the crop(Torgal, 2015). However, its capacity is limited
to only 1,000 m2 since at a higher area, the stress at the core is unmanageable.

Circular ponds
B.CLOSED SYSTEMS
Closed systems do not have exposed surfaces to the atmosphere but rather the algae is contained in
containers and CO2 is pumped through the culture.
B.1 TUBULAR REACTORS

Tubular photobioreactors are very suitable for outdoor mass cultures of algae since they have large
illumination surface area. On the other hand, one of the major limitations of tubular photobioreactor is poor
mass transfer. It should be noted that mass transfer (oxygen build-up) becomes a problem when tubular
photobioreactors are scaled up. For instance, some studies have shown that very high dissolved oxygen
(DO) levels are easily reached in tubular photobioreactors (Torzillo et al., 1986; Richmond et al., 1993;
Molina et al., 2001). Tubular photobioreactors consist of straight, coiled or looped transparent tubing arranged in various ways
for maximizing sunlight capture. Properly designed tubular photobioreactors completely isolate the culture
from potentially contaminating external environments, hence, allowing extended duration monoalgal
culture.

Horizontal Column (left) and Vertical Column (right)


Prospects
Large illumination surface area, suitable for outdoor cultures, fairly good biomass productivities, relatively
cheap.
Limitations
Gradients of pH, dissolved oxygen and CO2 along the tubes, fouling, some degree of wall growth, requires
large land space.
B.2 BUBBLE COLUMN REACTOR
A bubble column photo reactor consists of vertical arranged cylindrical column, made out of transparent
material. The introduction of gas takes place at the bottom of the column and causes a turbulent stream to

enable an optimum gas exchange. At present these types of reactors are built with a maximum diameter of
20 cm to 30 cm in order to ensure the required supply of sunlight energy.

Cylindrical and flat bubble column

B.3 VERTICAL COLUMN PHOTOBIOREACTOR


Vertical-column photobioreactors are compact, low-cost, and easy to operate monoseptically . Furthermore,
they are very promising for large-scale cultivation of algae. It was reported that bubble-column and airlift
photobioreactors (up to 0.19 m in diameter) can attain a final biomass concentration and specific growth
rate that are comparable to values typically reported for narrow tubular photobioreactors. Some bubble
column photobioreactors are equipped with either draft tubes or constructed as split cylinders. In the case
of draft tube photobioreactors, intermixing occurs between the riser and the downcomer zones of the
photobioreactor through the walls of the draft tube.

Prospects

High mass transfer, good mixing with low shear stress, low energy consumption, high potentials for
scalability, easy to sterilize, readily tempered, good for immobilization of algae, reduced photoinhibition and
photo-oxidation.
Limitations
Small illumination surface area, their construction require sophisticated materials, shear stress to algal
cultures, decrease of illumination surface area upon scale-up.
B.3 FLAT PLATE REACTOR
Flat-plate photobioreactors are made of transparent materials for maximum utilization of solar light energy.
Accumulation of dissolved oxygen concentrations in flat-plate photobioreactors is relatively low compared
to horizontal tubular photobioreactors. It has been reported that with flat-plate photobioreactors, high
photosynthetic efficiencies can be achieved (Hu et al., 1996; Richmond, 2000). Flat-plate photobioreactors
are very suitable for mass cultures of algae.

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