DESIGN OF A PHOTOBIOREACTOR BASED ON A BREAKAGE EQUATION GROWTH MODEL

摘要

Microalgae cultivation for carbon capture is a promising technology for the future. Microalgae take inrncarbon dioxide and can be converted to valuable products. However, the process of microlagaecultivation involvesrnhigh costs as it has not been optimized yet. The information about microalgae growth kinetics is limited. Thernbreakage equation growth models are obtained at different operating conditions, and some are too simple for use inrnthe design of a photobioreactor. The design of an efficient photobioreactor for microalgae growth requires arncompetent population growth model in order to determine the optimal harvesting period. The objective of this paperrnis to usea breakage equation growth model to study the effect of several harvesting cycles. The change in totalrnpopulation as well as population size distribution is observed through simulation. The model considers the growthrncycle of microalgae and will provide guidance in maintaining the growth of microalgae in the exponential phase inrnorder to increase the productivity.