Stratification of the Radiation Field Inside a Photobioreactor During Microalgae Growth |
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| Authors: | Josué M Heinrich Ignacio Niizawa Fausto A Botta Alejandro R Trombert Horacio A Irazoqui |
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| Institution: | 1. Institute for the Technological Development of the Chemical Industry (INTEC), Group of Innovation on Bio‐processes Engineering, National Research Council (CONICET), University of Littoral (UNL), , Santa Fe, Argentina;2. Department of Biochemistry and Biological Sciences (FBCB), Group of Innovation on Bio‐processes Engineering, University of Littoral (UNL), , Santa Fe, Argentina |
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| Abstract: | Light availability is a main issue in autotrophic growth of photosynthetic microorganisms. The change of the suspended cells concentration and that of their chlorophylls content during microalgal growth alters the optical properties of the aqueous suspension. This brings about changes in the properties of the radiation field inside the reactor. In this work, we have computed the evolution in time of the local volumetric rate of absorption of photons inside a photobioreactor by means of a Monte Carlo simulation algorithm previously developed. From this study, we have computed two operational variables that are useful tools for the analysis, performance comparison, optimization and scaling up of photobioreactors: the average rate of photon absorption and the volumetric distribution function of photons absorption rates. Based on these two variables, it is possible to systematically quantify the degree of stratification of the culture medium, which is a decisive aspect that hampers the reactor efficiency regarding the energy usage for biomass production. |
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