INCREASING THE COMPETITIVENESS OF EUROPEAN NON-ENERGY ALGAL SECTOR BY A NOVEL SOLUTION FOR BIOMASS PRODUCTION

摘要

This paper summarizes the concept, aims and some preliminary results of the ALGADISK project.This project is funded in European Union's Seventh Framework Program (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement no.286887. The aim of the ALGADISK project is to develop a modular, scalable and automatic biofilm reactor forAlgae biomass production, with low operational and installation costs. The reactor will be designed to capture CO_2from industrial emissions to produce high value organic products. In this system, algae will be grown both in anaqueous environment and on biocompatible surfaces, allowing for CO_2 absorption from either the gas or liquid phase.This method will dramatically increase the efficiency of the reactor and decrease water requirements. Automatic andcontinuous harvesting of algae will be designed to optimize CO_2 uptake and biomass production. Adjusting the scaleof the system will be trivial, as ALGADISK will have a modular design and the installation’s footprint will beconsiderably reduced compared to technologies currently on the market. The proposed system will be specificallycrafted to meet the needs of European SMEs who are willing to produce algae biomass products from industrialemissions.