Optimal cultivation of Scenedesmus sp. microalgae in a bubble column photobioreacto

Abstract

The influence of several factors including salinity, pH, lamps with various light intensities and different water sources on the growth of isolated Scenedesmus sp. microalgae has been investigated. In the fabricated bubble column photobioreactor and under illumination of tungsten light at pH value of 8 and salinity of 3.6 psu, maximum growth of Scenedesmus sp. (3.71 g L^-1) has been obtained. The growth model for microalgae is investigated using Logistic model. The obtained data fits well with the projected model. The maximum specific growth rate, initial biomass concentration and apparent specific growth rate (x_max, x₀ and K_c) are found to be 3.5, 0.002 g L^-1 and 0.63 d^-1, respectively. The extracted fatty acids from microalgae are analyzed by GC. It has been found that about 43.71% of oil content of microalgae is oleic acid (C18:1) which improves oxidative stability properties of biodiesel feed-stock.