Reduction of water and energy requirement of algae cultivation using an algae biofilm photobioreactor

This paper reports the construction and performance of an algae biofilm photobioreactor that offers a significant reduction of the energy and water requirements of cultivation. The green alga Botryococcus braunii was cultivated as a biofilm. The system achieved a direct biomass harvest concentration of 96.4 kg/m3 with a total lipid content 26.8% by dry weight and a productivity of 0.71 g/m2 day, representing a light to biomass energy conversion efficiency of 2.02%. Moreover, it reduced the volume of water required to cultivate a kilogram of algal biomass by 45% and reduced the dewatering energy requirement by 99.7% compared to open ponds. Finally, the net energy ratio of the cultivation was 6.00 including dewatering. The current issues of this novel photobioreactor are also identified to further improve the system productivity and scaleup.