Author Description

The productivity framework enables to study cultivation under a wide range of process conditions and reactor designs, even those which have not been yet developed or tested under outdoor conditions. The results show that regional weather conditions, solar angles and algae species are key factors in making the best choice for the specific reactor design. The productivity framework allows to optimise the reactor design (e.g. geometry, light path, distances between parallel units and height) to the regional light conditions and growth characteristics of the algae species of interest. The best biomass concentration for cultivation varies between the reactor design, location and algae species. We recommend to select species suited to growth well at the regional light angles and weather conditions. An initial global sensitivity analysis shows that the absorption coefficient, maximum specific growth rate and functional cross section of the photosynthetic apparatus are the essential parameters of the model for single flat panels. An important next step is to validate and calibrate the productivity framework using data from outdoor experiments in various reactor designs, at different locations and with several algae species.