Scientists in Cologne develop a more cost-efficient method to cultivate algae
In Germany, Professor Michael Melkonian and a team from the University of Cologne have developed a new method that could make the production of algae easier – and hence reduce the costs of the products based on this material. Their findings are published in the journal Trends in Biotechnology.
The “Porous Substrate Bioreactor” (PSBR), also known as the twin-layer system, uses a new principle to separate the algae from a nutrient solution by means of a porous reactor surface on which the microalgae are trapped in biofilms. Special about this new procedure is that it reduces the amount of liquid needed in comparison to the currently used technology, which cultivates algae in suspensions, by a factor of up to one hundred. The PSBR procedure thus allows for a significant reduction in energy and for an increase in the portfolio of algae that can be cultivated.
Current successes in PSBR development and the rise in interest in this technology in recent years could signal a turn in the conception of future photobioreactors in microalgae biotechnology.
Category: Research
