Use of photoacclimation in the design of a novel photobioreactor to achieve high yields in algal mass cultivation

The concept of a completely new and novel photobioreactor consisting of various compartments each with a specific light regime is described. This is in response to the debate and development which have taken place in recent years concerning photobioreactor design and closed systems. It is well known that algae can photo-acclimate to various light intensities. At the extremes, they can be high light (HL) or low light (LL) acclimated. Both HL and LL acclimated algae typically have very specific characteristics indicating the plasticity of the organisms, which have developed specific strategies during evolution to cope with continuous and dynamic light fields. Not only are these considerations important in photobioreactor design, but also for the production of certain biocompounds, whose synthesis has specific light requirements. In the continuous flow photobioreactor described here, algal cells acclimated to different light conditions together permit utilization of the entire light gradient found in an optically dense medium, such as in a high-density culture. Compared to a single compartment vertical flat-plate photobioreactor, the multicompartment reactor yielded a 37% higher productivity rate. This is a significant improvement in photobioreactor performance.