Improvement of mixing time,mass transfer,and power consumption in an external loop airlift photobioreactor for microalgae cultures |
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Affiliation: | 2. AlgoSource Technologies, Bd de l''Université, Saint-Nazaire Cedex, France;3. Université Clermont Auvergne, ENSCCF, Clermont-Ferrand, France and CNRS, Institut Pascal, Aubiere, France;1. GEMMA — Group of Environmental Engineering and Microbiology, Department of Hydraulic, Maritime and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya-BarcelonaTech, c/Jordi Girona, 1-3, Building D1, E-08034 Barcelona, Spain;2. INRA, UR0050, Laboratoire de Biotechnologie de l''Environnement, Avenue des Etangs, Narbonne F-11100, France |
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Abstract: | Longer mixing times and higher power consumption are common problems in the design of photobioreactors. In this study, a vertical triangular external airlift loop photobioreactor was designed, constructed and operated for microalgae production studies. Gas feeding was performed by two spargers: one at the bottom of the hypotenuse (downcomer) and another at the bottom of the vertical side (riser). This configuration provided more effective countercurrent liquid–gas flow in the hypotenuse. The mass transfer coefficient, gas hold-up, mixing time, circulation time, dimensionless mixing time, bubble size, and volumetric power consumption were measured and optimized using response surface methodology. Investigations were carried out on the performance of the riser (the vertical side), downcomer (the hypotenuse), and separator. The countercurrent flow in the hypotenuse provided sufficient contact between gas and liquid phases, and increased mixing and mass transfer rates, in contrast to the results of previous studies. The promising results of this geometry were shorter mixing time and a significant decrease in volumetric power consumption in comparison with other configurations for photobioreactors. |
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Keywords: | Airlift bioreactors Mixing Gas hold-up Mass transfer Power consumption Counter-current flow |
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