TITLE:
The Effect of Irradiance Related Temperature on Microalgae Growth in a Tubular Photo Bioreactor for Cleaner Energy
AUTHORS:
Ujjwal K. Deb, M. Shahriar, Joy Bhowmik, M. K. H. Chowdury
KEYWORDS:
Microalgae, Biofuel, Photo Bioreactor, Solar Irradiance, Temperature, Simulation
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Computational Mathematics,
Vol.7 No.3,
September
28,
2017
ABSTRACT: In
microalgae based biofuel technology, the light is one of the important factors
for the proper growth of microalgae cells as microalgae is a photosynthetic
microorganism. For a large scale outdoor culture the irradiance of sunlight and
associated temperature is also need to consider. In this study aims to present
computational model of microalgae growth taking effect of solar irradiance and
corresponding temperature in a tubular photo bioreactor for an outdoor culture
system. We consider the transient behavior of temperature inside the photo
bioreactor for a microalgae culture. The optimum range of temperature for
outdoor cultivation of microalgae is about 22℃ - 27℃ and out of this range the microalgae cell
growth inhibits. Many correlations have already been established to investigate
the algal productivity based on the dynamic conditions of temperature in case
of full scale outdoor cultivation. However, none of them are validated yet
numerically considering the model as a function of weather conditions,
operational behavior and design criteria. A tubular photobioreactor (PBR) with
length 20.5 m and radius 0.05 m has taken account as a simulation model. The PBR is horizontally placed
as temperature variations can be observed with greater accuracy. As the solar
irradiance varies at any geographic latitude for a year and so thus
temperature, equations and parameters are established relating the irradiance
with the temperature to simulate the effect. We observed some significant
effects of temperature on the growth of microalgae. Moreover, for the maximum
growth of the cells we should control the surrounding temperature.