(230al) Microalgae’s Cells Mapping By Radioactive Particle Tracking (RPT)

Laith S. Sabri, Abbas J. Sultan and Muthanna H. Al-Dahhan

Multiphase Reactors and Applications Laboratory M-REAL. Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO 65409-1230. USA

Movement of the microalgae cells inside the photobioreactors is the key to enhancing the biomass productivity. This movement has affected not only by the hydrodynamics (flow dynamics) inside the reactor, but also the light intensity which their delivered. In fact, when the algaeâ??s cell delivered, the light from the illuminated surface and moving to the dark zone, biomass productivity could frequently become high. Moreover, the availability of the light in all the zones inside the reactor plays a critical factor for photobioreactor performance due to the effect on the biomass enrichment. Unfortunately, the interactions between the hydrodynamics parameters and the light availability remain unclear yet. Therefore, the request for both the mechanics of cell motion and for the mathematical model which contact between the variable concentrations of microalgae cells with irradiance spread inside the reactor are need. This work focuses on the integrated of the cells' movements (cell positions) which is tracked by using advanced non-invasive technique called Radioactive Particle Tracking (RPT) with a mathematical model for growth rate. This model linked the irradiance distribution to the concentrations of cells through the period of growing. A Plexiglas split photobioreactor column carried out in this experimental work with 5.5-inch (0.14m) inner diameter. A green algae (Scenedesmus) used for the cultivation at different superficial gas velocities (1, 2, and 3 cm/sec). The advanced information which obtained from this investigation crystallize the understanding and knowledge of photobioreactor behavior. The experimental results and conclusions will present at the conference.

Keywords: RPT, Photobioreactor, Microalgae