Manufacture of a large-sized flat panel airlift photobioreactor (FPA PBR) case with characteristic shapes using a thermoforming process

摘要

The objective of this paper is to manufacture a large-sized Flat panel airlift photobioreactor (FPA PBR) case with characteristic shape using thermoforming process. Two distinguished characteristic shapes, including a blade and a stiffener, are designed to improve mixing characteristics and light utilization of the FPA PBR case. Structural analyses are carried out to obtain a proper design of the large-sized FPA PBR case. The design of the thermoforming mould is created using the proper design of the FPA PBR case. Proper conditions of the thermoforming process are estimated via a thermoforming analysis. The desired FPA PBR case with characteristic shapes is fabricated via thermoforming and bonding processes. Through durability and culture experiments, the applicability and the efficiency of the fabricated FPA PBR case have been investigated. From the results of the experiments, it has been shown that the designed FPA PBR case can significantly improve the productivity of the microalgae and the efficiency of the FPA PBR case.