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Porous membrane as a means of gas and nutrient exchange in a tubular photobioreactor

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Abstract

In a tubular photobioreactor, a degassing column is often used for oxygen removal and carbon dioxide addition. The column may limit growth because the conditions are optimal only right after the degassing zone. In the present study, we tested continuous oxygen removal and nutrient delivery by placing a porous membrane tube inside a photobioreactor tube. The membrane tube would simultaneously remove dissolved oxygen and release nutrients and carbon dioxide to the photobioreactor tube. We tested oxygen as a model of gas exchange; nitrate and ammonium were tested as models of macronutrients and copper as a model of micronutrients. Oxygen-poor or nutrient-rich water was flowed in a dialysis tube placed inside a glass tube containing originally air-saturated water. In 60 min, the concentration of oxygen decreased by 48 % of the initial value and the nutrients reached 55–90 % of the feed flow concentration. The results suggest that integrating a porous membrane tube into the tubular photobioreactor tube can improve oxygen removal and nutrient delivery.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the European Regional Development Fund (Bio Refine Tech project coordinated by Cursor Oy). ET was also supported by Academy of Finland. The authors are responsible for study design and collection and interpretation of the data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Energy Technology, School of Engineering, Aalto University, 00076, Aalto, Finland

    Suvi Ojanen, Henrik Holmberg & Pekka Ahtila

  2. Molecular Plant Biology, Department of Biochemistry, University of Turku, 20014, Turku, Finland

    Suvi Ojanen & Esa Tyystjärvi

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  1. Suvi Ojanen
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  2. Esa Tyystjärvi
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  3. Henrik Holmberg
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  4. Pekka Ahtila
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Correspondence to Esa Tyystjärvi.

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Ojanen, S., Tyystjärvi, E., Holmberg, H. et al. Porous membrane as a means of gas and nutrient exchange in a tubular photobioreactor. J Appl Phycol 27, 1169–1175 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-014-0397-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-014-0397-0

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