Abstract
The relationship between growth rates of algae and structure parameters of closed flat-panel photobioreactors was investigated. Ad/Ar (cross-section area of the downcomer/cross-section area of the riser), h0 (clearance from the upper edge of the baffles to the water level), and h1 (clearance from the lower edge of the baffles to the bottom of the reactor) were selected as the inner structure parameters. CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) was used to simulate the hydrodynamic parameter (TKE)d (turbulence kinetic energy of the downcomers) and the secondary parameters ε (ratio between td and tc), tc (cycle time), and DZ (dead zones), which were deduced from the hydrodynamic parameters mentioned above. The effects of (TKE)d, ε, tc, DZ, and the inner structure parameters on cell growth of Isochrysis galbana 3011 were analyzed using data collected in 15-L airlift flat-panel photobioreactors. A model was developed to predict algae cell growth based on these inner structure parameters, thereby providing a new method for photobioreactor optimization. Validity of the model was confirmed by experimental data of I. galbana 3011 cultured in 15-L and 300-L photobioreactors, respectively. Finally, the prospect of applying CFD to photobioreactor optimization was discussed.
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Abbreviations
- Ad:
-
Cross-section area of the downcomer (m2)
- Ar:
-
Cross-section area of the riser (m2)
- Cd:
-
Cell density (cells mL−1)
- DZ:
-
Dead zones (%)
- h0 :
-
Clearance from the upper edge of the baffles to the water level (mm)
- h1 :
-
Clearance from the lower edge of the baffles to the bottom of the reactor (mm)
- tc:
-
Cycle time (s)
- td:
-
Duration of the downcomer period (s)
- TKE:
-
Turbulence kinetic energy (J kg−1)
- (TKE)d :
-
Turbulence kinetic energy of the downcomers (light zones) (J kg−1)
- ε:
-
Ratio between td and tc
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Acknowledgements
This research was funded by Wenzhou Bidding Plan Project for Great Difficult Technical Problems (N2004A022), National High Technical Development Project (863 Project) Foundation in the field of ocean (2007AA02Z209, 2007AA09Z419) and National Technical Supporting Project Foundation (2006BAD09A12).
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Yu, G., Li, Y., Shen, G. et al. A novel method using CFD to optimize the inner structure parameters of flat photobioreactors. J Appl Phycol 21, 719–727 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-009-9407-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-009-9407-z