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Advances in photobioreactors for intensive microalgal production: configurations, operating strategies and applications
Author(s) -
Olivieri Giuseppe,
Salatino Piero,
Marzocchella Antonio
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of chemical technology and biotechnology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.64
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1097-4660
pISSN - 0268-2575
DOI - 10.1002/jctb.4218
Subject(s) - photobioreactor , biochemical engineering , biomass (ecology) , biofuel , production (economics) , process engineering , productivity , environmental science , computer science , engineering , waste management , ecology , biology , economics , macroeconomics
Over the past ten years a great deal of literature has focused on the biotechnological potential of microalgal commercial applications, mainly in the field of biofuel production. However, the biofuel production is not yet competitive, mainly due to the incidence of the photobioreactor technology on the process cost. Besides, major advances in classic photobioreactor design, several novel configurations have been proposed in the last 20 years to improve their performance expressed in terms of light absorption, biomass productivity, light to biomass yield and photosynthetic efficiency. This review aims at analyzing and classifying the most recent advances and the several novel approaches to the design, development, control and modeling of photobioreactors. The diverse approaches are grouped considering irradiance strategies, multiphase hydrodynamics, mass transfer mechanisms, modeling approaches and control strategies. Some innovative applications of the photobioreactor technology are also reported. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry