Horizontal or vertical photobioreactors? How to improve microalgae photosynthetic efficiency

Abstract

The productivity of a vertical outdoor photobioreactor was quantitatively assessed and compared to a horizontal reactor. Daily light cycles in southern Spain were simulated and applied to grow the microalgae Chlorella sorokiniana in a flat panel photobioreactor. The maximal irradiance around noon differs from 400 micromol photons m-2 s-1 in the vertical position to 1800 micromol photons m-2 s-1 in the horizontal position. The highest volumetric productivity was achieved in the simulated horizontal position, 4 g kg culture-1 d-1. The highest photosynthetic efficiency was found for the vertical simulation, 1.3 g of biomass produced per mol of PAR photons supplied, which compares favorably to the horizontal position (0.85 g mol-1) and to the theoretical maximal yield (1.8 g mol-1). These results prove that productivity per unit of ground area could be greatly enhanced by placing the photobioreactors vertically.