| Summary: | Studies on microalgal lipid production as a sustainable feedstock for biofuels and chemicals are scarce, particularly those on applying open thin-layer cascade (TLC) photobioreactors under dynamic diurnal conditions. Continuous lipid production with <i>Microchloropsis salina</i> was studied in scalable TLC photobioreactors at 50 m<sup>2</sup> pilot scale, applying a physically simulated Mediterranean summer climate. A cascade of two serially connected TLC reactors was applied, promoting biomass growth under nutrient-replete conditions in the first reactor, while inducing the accumulation of lipids via nitrogen limitation in the second reactor. Up to 4.1 g L<sup>−1</sup> of lipids were continuously produced at productivities of up to 0.27 g L<sup>−1</sup> d<sup>−1</sup> (1.8 g m<sup>2</sup> d<sup>−1</sup>) at a mean hydraulic residence time of 2.5 d in the first reactor and 20 d in the second reactor. Coupling mass balances with the kinetics of microalgal growth and lipid formation enabled the simulation of phototrophic process performances of <i>M. salina</i> in TLC reactors in batch and continuous operation at the climate conditions studied. This study demonstrates the scalability of continuous microalgal lipid production in TLC reactors with <i>M. salina</i> and provides a TLC reactor model for the realistic simulation of microalgae lipid production processes after re-identification of the model parameters if other microalgae and/or varying climate conditions are applied.
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