Investigation of photobioreactor design for enhancing the photosynthetic productivity of microalgae

As photosynthetic efficiencies are relatively high at irradiation levels of <500 mu mol m(-2) s(-1), photosynthetic productivity could be increased by redistributing strong light over a larger photo-receiving area using conical, helical, tubular photobioreactors (HTP). When Chlorella were exposed to light irradiation of 980 mu mol m(-2) s(-1), the ratio of productivities was 1.00:1.13:1.23:1.66 for conical HTPs with cone angles of 180 degrees (flat type), 120 degrees, 90 degrees, and 60 degrees, respectively. This suggests that photo-redistribution technology is a highly effective and convenient approach for increasing the photosynthetic productivity of microalgae. (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.