A Bacteriostatic Control Approach for Mixotrophic Cultures of Microalgae

摘要

Mixotrophic mode of cultivation is an effective means of producing algal biomass. However, as it involves growth on an organic carbon source, the risks of bacterial contamination (and takeover) are higher at large production scales (e.g. pilot or industrial scale) where adequate sterilization is difficult to ensure. This observation also holds for closed systems such as photobioreactors. A recent study showed that the bacterial population can be contained under particular constraints on the available nutrients in the culture medium. Using very simple models for the dynamic behavior (growth and nutrient consumption) of both species involved (algae and bacteria), this paper investigates biomass productivity aspects under such operational constraints as well as possible approaches for conducting the system.