Design, fabrication and preliminary testing of a vertical flat-plate photobioreactor for the outdoor cultivation of chlorella vulgaris

Date

2011

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering

College

College of Engineering and Agro-Industrial Technology (CEAT)

Adviser/Committee Chair

Rex B. Demafelis

Co-adviser

Milagrosa M. Goss

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Abstract

A 100-L algal culture feed capacity vertical flat-plate photobioreactor was designed and fabricated for cultivating Chlorella vulgaris for biodiesel production. The photobioreactor was designed specifically for continuous cultivation of Chlorella vulgaris by dividing the photobioreactor into five stages by the addition of baffles. The photobioreactor has sampling ports for each stage. The photobioreactor was first operated at batch process. The specific growth rate was computed using the readings made at the wavelength of 425nm. The

specific growth rate of Chlorella vulgaris was computed to be 0.2472 day- 1 and corresponding residence time of 2.83 days. After steady state in the

batch cultivation has been achieved, the operation of the photobioreactor system shifted to continuous operation. The residence time was made to be 8 days which is twice the computed residence time of 4 days. The inlet flowrate was adjusted to 9.37 mL/min to cover for the loss of water due to evaporation, while the outlet flowrate was 8.68 mL/min. It was observed that there is less fluctuation in the biomass concentration in the continuous operation compared to the batch. Also, it was observed that there was an increase in biomass concentration from the stage 1 to stage 5 which was expected because there must be an increase in biomass concentration as the residence time is approached. Nutrient concentration was monitored during the continuous operation of the photobioreactor and it was found out the nitrogen is not a limiting nutrient since there is a significant residual amount of nitrogen. Overall, the fabricated photobioreactor can be concluded to be suitable for outdoor cultivation of Chlorella vulgaris.

Language

English

Location

UPLB College of Engineering and Agro-Industrial Technology (CEAT)

Document Type

Thesis

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