Mass Cultivation of Microalgae: II. A Large Species Pulsing Blue Light Concept
If mass cultivation of photoautotrophic microalgae is to gain momentum and find its place in the new “green future”, exceptional optimizations to reduce production costs must be implemented. Issues related to illumination should therefore constitute the main focus, since it is the availability of ph...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-05-01
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| Series: | BioTech |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-6284/12/2/40 |
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| author | Hans Chr. Eilertsen Jo Strømholt John-Steinar Bergum Gunilla Kristina Eriksen Richard Ingebrigtsen |
| author_facet | Hans Chr. Eilertsen Jo Strømholt John-Steinar Bergum Gunilla Kristina Eriksen Richard Ingebrigtsen |
| author_sort | Hans Chr. Eilertsen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | If mass cultivation of photoautotrophic microalgae is to gain momentum and find its place in the new “green future”, exceptional optimizations to reduce production costs must be implemented. Issues related to illumination should therefore constitute the main focus, since it is the availability of photons in time and space that drives synthesis of biomass. Further, artificial illumination (e.g., LEDs) is needed to transport enough photons into dense algae cultures contained in large photobioreactors. In the present research project, we employed short-term O<sub>2</sub> production and 7-day batch cultivation experiments to evaluate the potential to reduce illumination light energy by applying blue flashing light to cultures of large and small diatoms. Our results show that large diatom cells allow more light penetration for growth compared to smaller cells. PAR (400–700 nm) scans yielded twice as much biovolume-specific absorbance for small biovolume (avg. 7070 μm<sup>3</sup>) than for large biovolume (avg. 18,703 μm<sup>3</sup>) cells. The dry weight (DW) to biovolume ratio was 17% lower for large than small cells, resulting in a DW specific absorbance that was 1.75 times higher for small cells compared to large cells. Blue 100 Hz square flashing light yielded the same biovolume production as blue linear light in both the O<sub>2</sub> production and batch experiments at the same maximum light intensities. We therefore suggest that, in the future, more focus should be placed on researching optical issues in photobioreactors, and that cell size and flashing blue light should be central in this. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T02:42:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-abbaa6f0d14e456d8ba1842eb1634782 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2673-6284 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T02:42:03Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BioTech |
| spelling | doaj.art-abbaa6f0d14e456d8ba1842eb16347822023-11-18T09:33:39ZengMDPI AGBioTech2673-62842023-05-011224010.3390/biotech12020040Mass Cultivation of Microalgae: II. A Large Species Pulsing Blue Light ConceptHans Chr. Eilertsen0Jo Strømholt1John-Steinar Bergum2Gunilla Kristina Eriksen3Richard Ingebrigtsen4Norwegian College of Fishery Science, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, N-9037 Tromsø, NorwayFinnfjord AS, N-9305 Finnsnes, NorwayFinnfjord AS, N-9305 Finnsnes, NorwayNorwegian College of Fishery Science, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, N-9037 Tromsø, NorwayNorwegian College of Fishery Science, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, N-9037 Tromsø, NorwayIf mass cultivation of photoautotrophic microalgae is to gain momentum and find its place in the new “green future”, exceptional optimizations to reduce production costs must be implemented. Issues related to illumination should therefore constitute the main focus, since it is the availability of photons in time and space that drives synthesis of biomass. Further, artificial illumination (e.g., LEDs) is needed to transport enough photons into dense algae cultures contained in large photobioreactors. In the present research project, we employed short-term O<sub>2</sub> production and 7-day batch cultivation experiments to evaluate the potential to reduce illumination light energy by applying blue flashing light to cultures of large and small diatoms. Our results show that large diatom cells allow more light penetration for growth compared to smaller cells. PAR (400–700 nm) scans yielded twice as much biovolume-specific absorbance for small biovolume (avg. 7070 μm<sup>3</sup>) than for large biovolume (avg. 18,703 μm<sup>3</sup>) cells. The dry weight (DW) to biovolume ratio was 17% lower for large than small cells, resulting in a DW specific absorbance that was 1.75 times higher for small cells compared to large cells. Blue 100 Hz square flashing light yielded the same biovolume production as blue linear light in both the O<sub>2</sub> production and batch experiments at the same maximum light intensities. We therefore suggest that, in the future, more focus should be placed on researching optical issues in photobioreactors, and that cell size and flashing blue light should be central in this.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-6284/12/2/40marine microalgaediatomsphotobioreactorilluminationflashing blue light |
| spellingShingle | Hans Chr. Eilertsen Jo Strømholt John-Steinar Bergum Gunilla Kristina Eriksen Richard Ingebrigtsen Mass Cultivation of Microalgae: II. A Large Species Pulsing Blue Light Concept BioTech marine microalgae diatoms photobioreactor illumination flashing blue light |
| title | Mass Cultivation of Microalgae: II. A Large Species Pulsing Blue Light Concept |
| title_full | Mass Cultivation of Microalgae: II. A Large Species Pulsing Blue Light Concept |
| title_fullStr | Mass Cultivation of Microalgae: II. A Large Species Pulsing Blue Light Concept |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mass Cultivation of Microalgae: II. A Large Species Pulsing Blue Light Concept |
| title_short | Mass Cultivation of Microalgae: II. A Large Species Pulsing Blue Light Concept |
| title_sort | mass cultivation of microalgae ii a large species pulsing blue light concept |
| topic | marine microalgae diatoms photobioreactor illumination flashing blue light |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-6284/12/2/40 |
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