TITLE:
The Growth Factors Involved in Microalgae Cultivation for Biofuel Production: A Review
AUTHORS:
Kamrul Hasan Chowdury, Nurun Nahar, Ujjwal Kumar Deb
KEYWORDS:
Microalgae, Biofuel, Photobioreactor, Cultivation, Growth Factors
JOURNAL NAME:
Computational Water, Energy, and Environmental Engineering,
Vol.9 No.4,
October
30,
2020
ABSTRACT: The growing demand for energy and the negative
environmental impacts of fossil fuel use are triggering global searches for a
renewable and eco-friendly alternative biofuel. Microalgae are considered as
one of the most promising feedstocks for biofuel production, due to many
advantages including cultivation in
non-arable land and being able to grow in wastewater or seawater. That is why;
microalgae-based biofuels are regarded as one of the best candidates to replace
fossil fuels. There are two main types of microalgae cultivation systems: Open
Raceway Ponds and Closed Photobioreactos (PBRs). Due to some limitations in Open Raceways, PBRs have become the most
favorable choice for biofuel producers, even though it is costly. To
make the process viable, the growth of microalgae for biofuel production should
be cost-effective. One way to achieve this goal is to optimize the
environmental factors that influence their growth during the cultivation stage
to increase the accumulation of bio-compounds of fuel. Algal growth relies
mostly on nutrients, CO2 concentration, pH and salinity, light
intensity and quality, temperature and finally mixing, which directly affects all other factors. Thus, before
designing PBR, a thorough study on these
growth parameters is needed. In the present study, we
reviewed and evaluated these growth influencing factors in an extensive way to
optimize biofuel production.