Photobioreactors
The AlgaeScienceCenter runs three different concepts of large-scale photobioreactor systems for research and biomass production of microalgae, facilitated by sunlight and waste CO2.
They build on commercially available PBR systems used within the project AUFWIND, where the added value chain from algal biomass to jet fuel was described, and are located within the FZJ, Germany (50° 55′ 19″ north, 6° 21′ 29″ east). Photobioreactorsystem:
(a) consists of so-called V-bags within a greenhouse (www.NOVAgreen-microalgae.de). Adjacent to it are the photobioreactors of
(b) IGV (Institut für Getreideverarbeitung GmbH, www.igv-gmbh.de), where the algae are sprayed over meshes and take up CO2 from the enriched air in the foil greenhouse, and
(c) Phytolutions GmbH (www.phytolutions.com), where sunlight can very directly and efficiently access the cultures in the outdoor facility, but it also faces the weather as opposed to a greenhouse.
Each PBR occupies a 500 m2 area. The variability allows research on controlled culturing in dynamic and heterogeneous conditions, nutrient cyling (e.g. from waste water to crops) and more efficient procedures in culture and harvest are the main focus points for a sustainable use of microalgae as a resource.
Contact
Dr. Holger Klose
Head of Research "Alternative Biomass"
- Institute of Bio- and Geosciences (IBG)
- Plant Sciences (IBG-2)
Room 423
