Evaluation of Algal Biomass Production on Vertical Membranes

ABSTRACT: Large scale algal biomass production has focused primarily on the Open Pond (OP) and Photobioreactor (PBR) systems, but to date neither system has been able to produce algae biofuel in a financially viable manner. For this reason, a novel membrane based cultivation system was evaluated to determine if it could produce significant quantities of biomass without a negative impact on the lipid productivity and fatty acid profile compared to the two traditional systems. Membrane based cultivation has been shown to produce significant areal yields (>15 g m-2 floor space day-1) assuming a 1:1 lab scale to full scale conversion and significant harvest concentrations (>4.95 g/L), resulting in reduced energy inputs and increased financial return. In addition to productivity increases, it was shown that the aeroponic nature of the membrane system does not negatively affect the fatty acid composition of the cultivated biomass, demonstrating the promising potential for using membrane based systems to produce biofuel, nutraceuticals and feed for fisheries and various other applications.