Large Scale Photobioreactors (25 l or 100 l volume)

Culture vessel

Flat, rectangular glass culture vessel with a short light path (6.5 cm ± 5%) for optimal irradiance.
Different sizes: 25 l, 100 l.
Stainless steel container lid with gas and electronics accessories accompanied by silicone seals.
Integrated aeration plastic U-tube with porous polyethylene spray (pore size 50 µm). Autoclavable (with limited reuse).
Drain valve.
Chemical or hot steam sterilization.

Thermoregulation

Built-in temperature regulation in the range of 30 - 50 ° C (with ambient temperature around 20 ° C).
The cooling module (optional) extends the temperature range to 15 - 60 ° C (the ambient temperature does not exceed 30 ° C). Includes water cooling coil, cooling unit, electronics and software control.

illumination

Led technology.
Two-color light panel with separately controllable channels.
Cool white-red or cool white-blue. Other color combination on request.
Total illumination intensity up to 500 and 200 µmol. m-2. s-1 for white and red light, respectively.
Optionally, up to 2,000 µmol. m-2. s-1 with Light Upgrade (available only for 25 l PBR).
Light path: 6.5 cm ± 5%.
Illumination can be independently adjusted for light color in intensity, timing, and modulation.
Constant light conditions or the alternation of several cycles of light and dark.
The duration of individual cycles: from seconds to days.
The mode of the light cycles: constant, linear increase or decrease, sinusoid mode for simple imitation of daytime rhythms. Furthermore, the java script is embedded in the photobioreactor control software (advanced version) for the creation of advanced light protocols (eg automatic adjustment of light intensity based on actual biomass concentration).
Additional protective glasses: Radiation safety glasses that protect against excessive LED radiation, equipped with side shields and protective filters. One pair of glasses is provided with the device free of charge.

Aeration system

The aeration system provides mixing and also supply of air / CO2 to the crops.
Integrated aeration plastic U-tube with porous polyethylene spray (pore size 50 µm). Autoclavable (with limited reuse).
The air source: Air pump supplemented with a valve, which interrupts the bubbling before the DO and fluorescence measurements to avoid any interference of bubbles with the measurements and thus allow more accurate readings.
Optionally, the photobioreactor can be connected to the GMS 150 gas mixing system which provides a precise concentration and flow rate of the required gases.

DO and chlorophyll-a fluorescence monitoring

Integrated turbidimeter (OD 680 and 720 nm) and double modulation fluorometer (blue and red excitation lights) for automatic measurements (optional).
The optical path of the OD and Chl-a fluorescence measurement: 10 mm.
OD 720 measures light scattering in particles and can serve as an indicator of biomass growth, while OD 680 is related to chlorophyll uptake and can be used to estimate chlorophyll concentration.
Measurement of the fluorescence of chlorophyll a can be used for a rough assessment of the physiological state of the biomass. Blue and red excitation light. Determined parameters: F0, FT, FM, F'M, (F'M - FT / F'M).
The photobioreactor control software allows remote online viewing of recorded data in real time. In addition, the software allows you to fit the OD data with the various regression functions to facilitate the evaluation of the real growth rate.

Sensors

Electrode module: allows to connect up to four measurement sensors to the photobioreactor.
Temperature sensor: Pt 1000 platinum sensor.
PH module (optional) includes InPro 3253i / SG / 325 digital membrane pH sensor, cable, SW control.
O2 module (optional) to measure dissolved O2 concentration (includes InPro 6860i / 325 digital optical O2 sensor, cable, SW control).
CO2 module (optional) to determine the concentration of carbon dioxide dissolved in the medium (includes InPro 5000i / 325 digital CO2 sensor, cable, SW control).

Cultivation strategies

Highly flexible use is allowed by connecting and controlling several additional pumps. This design allows any of the measured parameters (for example, DO, pH, dCO2 or dO2, including information from the water level sensors) to be used as a control regulator to operate the system in automatic mode.
Two PWM diaphragm pumps (optional) and up to 8 peristaltic pumps (optional) can be connected to the Photobioreactor for the supply of different nutrients, media, catalystis, inhibitors, toxic, base or acid, organisms, etc.

Batch culture
Semi-continuous culture
Turbidostatic culture
Chemostatic culture
Anaerobic culture
Turbidostat module (optional): maintains a pre-established cell concentration (determined through OD 680 or OD 720) in a constant volume of biomass. The preset cell concentration can be constant, fluctuate in various ranges, or change dynamically. The module includes two peristaltic pumps and supporting control software.
Chemostat module (option

al): In chemostat mode, the pH value of the culture medium is continuously adjusted by adding acid or base to the culture vessel to keep the pH level at a defined level. The module includes two peristaltic pumps (one pump is for adding acid, the other pump adds base).
PH-Stat culture through the GMS 150 gas mixing system (optional): The photobioreactor control software for GMS 150 allows creating a Java script that will maintain the pH of the culture medium at a defined level by adding CO2 gas regulated.
Anaerobic culture using a gas-tight lid and N2 bubbling.

Custom large-scale photobioreactors

The Vertical Tubular Airlift Photobioreactor is a modular system scalable between 100 - 1,000 l. Environmental or artificial LED lighting. Monitoring of OD 680, 720 and chlorophyll fluorescence. Additional probes: pH / T, dO2, CO2
1,000 l stainless photobioreactor. Temperature controlled culture tank with submerged LED lighting and integrated sparging system. Monitoring of OD 680, 720 and chlorophyll fluorescence. Additional probes: pH / T, dO2, CO2
Modular helical tubular photobioreactor (250 l per unit) with degassing system. Environmental or artificial LED lighting. Monitoring of OD 680, 720 and chlorophyll fluorescence. Additional probes: pH / T, dO2, CO2

Photobioreactor control software

The entire photobioreactor system and all its culture and monitoring functions and accessories can be controlled through the photobioreactor control software. The control software provides an intuitive and dynamic interface for online monitoring and visualization of all measured data, as well as the creation of user-defined protocols.
An advanced version of the photobioreactor control software must be ordered for the large-scale photobioreactor.
For more details, see our website on photobioreactor control software.

Applications

Verification of the expansion of the crop
Biomass production
Final product performance optimization