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Algal Biorefineries pp 147–173Cite as

High Density Outdoor Microalgal Culture

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Abstract

Despite the common use of open raceway pond technology for algae production, the system has many serious drawbacks resulting in low productivities and relatively high production costs. The key to higher yields and a cheaper product rests with the lowering of culture volume by decreasing the thickness of the algal layer exposed to the light. The higher the culture surface-to-volume ratio (S/V), the higher the culture density and the lower the cost of handling and harvesting. Basic parameters (light, temperature, mixing, carbon dioxide, oxygen, nutrition) affecting algal productivity in thin-layer (TL) photobioreactor have been assessed. In a low volume of vigorously mixed culture, utilization of light energy and algal yields are increased. Production costs are reduced to about one fifth (20 %) compared to raceways ponds.

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Abbreviations

DO:

dissolved oxygen

dw:

dry weight

EPDM:

ethyl propylene dimer

PAR:

photosynthetic active radiation

PE:

photosynthetic efficiency

PUFA:

polyunsaturated fatty acid

S/V:

surface to volume ratio

TL:

thin layer

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Acknowledgements

The work was supported by the projects EUREKA of the Ministry of Education Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic (nos. OE 221 and OE 09025).

We wish to express our gratitude to BCS Engineering, a.s., Brno, Czech Republic for their fruitful technical cooperation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Cell Cycles of Algae, Institute of Microbiology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 379 81, Třeboň, Czech Republic

    Jiří Doucha & Karel Lívanský

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  1. Jiří Doucha
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  2. Karel Lívanský
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Correspondence to Jiří Doucha .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, Louisiana, USA

    Rakesh Bajpai

  2. Chemical and Biological Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA

    Aleš Prokop

  3. Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, Louisiana, USA

    Mark Zappi

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Doucha, J., Lívanský, K. (2014). High Density Outdoor Microalgal Culture. In: Bajpai, R., Prokop, A., Zappi, M. (eds) Algal Biorefineries. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7494-0_6

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