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Short-term evaluation of the photosynthetic activity of an alkaliphilic microalgae consortium in a novel tubular closed photobioreactor

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Abstract

A novel lab-scale tubular closed photobioreactor was developed and used for the assessment of the photosynthetic activity of an alkaliphilic microalgae mixed consortium under non-substrate limitation (i.e., bicarbonate excess), controlled irradiance, and mixing conditions. Two prominent haloalkaliphilic strains were identified as members of the consortium: Halospirulina sp. and Picochlorum sp. The photobioreactor (vol = 0.5 L) consists of two interconnected U-shaped borosilicate glass tubes (internal diameter 2 cm) reaching a surface/volume ratio of 200 m2 m−3. This configuration specifically addressed the issue of the homogeneous light distribution among the microalgae suspended cells cultured by using fixed equidistant cool white light LEDs nearby the surface of the glass tubes. A soft homogeneous pneumatic mixing (i.e., airlift) was implemented in the culture fostering Reynolds numbers around 3000. The photosynthetic activity of the microalgae consortium was evaluated during different short-term kinetic assays by fitting the dynamics of the dissolved oxygen concentration to an oxygenic kinetic model. The photobioreactor operated in a closed loop allowed to control the produced oxygen by the extraction of the cumulated gas in the headspace. The use of this novel photobioreactor allowed the photosynthetic activity of microalgae suspended cells to be assessed, where the dissolved oxygen concentration and irradiance were the main parameters affecting the oxygenic rates under alkaline pH.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Margarita Elizabeth Cisneros Ortiz, Claudia Isela Granada Moreno, and Wenceslao Bonilla Blancas for their technical support. The financial support of the Mexican National Council on Science and Technology—CONACYT (Project CB-2011/168288) and of the Institute of Engineering of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (Project 3319) is also gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Engineering, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Circuito Escolar, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510, Mexico City, Mexico

    Daniel de los Cobos-Vasconcelos, Elisa Leonor García-Cruz, Mariana Franco-Morgado & Armando González-Sánchez

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  1. Daniel de los Cobos-Vasconcelos
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  2. Elisa Leonor García-Cruz
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  3. Mariana Franco-Morgado
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  4. Armando González-Sánchez
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Correspondence to Armando González-Sánchez.

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de los Cobos-Vasconcelos, D., García-Cruz, E.L., Franco-Morgado, M. et al. Short-term evaluation of the photosynthetic activity of an alkaliphilic microalgae consortium in a novel tubular closed photobioreactor. J Appl Phycol 28, 795–802 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-015-0612-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-015-0612-7

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