School of Biochemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University), Varanasi, India.
Crit Rev Biotechnol. 2023 Dec;43(5):665-679. doi: 10.1080/07388551.2022.2057274. Epub 2022 Jun 6.
Microalgae are the promising source of products having a low and high economic value that include feedstock and vitamin supplements. Presently, their cultivation is being carried out by using sunlight in the open raceway ponds. However, this process has disadvantages like fluctuations in irradiance of the sunlight due to climatic changes and bad weather. Artificial lights, exploiting light-emitting diodes are beneficial in increasing the volumetric productivity of the microalgal biomass as it provides continuous illumination in the photobioreactors and assist in the external and internal design. However, the application of light-emitting diodes accrues high input costs. Though the cost of light-emitting diodes was estimated long ago, there is no recent economic analysis of the same. This study aims to enlist the applications of light-emitting diodes in microalgal cultivation with reference to internally illuminated photobioreactors coupled with the evaluation of the cost and energy balance of the artificial lights. The calculation shows that the electrical energy cost incurred during the application of light-emitting diodes for microalgae cultivation is approximately USD 15.19 kg DW. The collective fraction of electrical energy transformed into chemical energy (microalgae biomass) is around 6-8%. The cost of the light-emitting diodes can be decreased by the application of an Arduino-based automated control system to control the power supply to LEDs, photovoltaic powered photobioreactors and additional light. These techniques of input cost reduction have also been explored deeply in the present study. As estimated, they can reduce the cost of light-emitting diodes by 50%.HighlightsDiscussion on the current application of light-emitting diodes for microalgae cultivationA broad discussion on internally illuminated photobioreactors and their modificationsMicroalgae cultivation cost exploiting LEDs' is around USD 15.19 kg DWNet conservation of electrical energy during the cultivation process is 6-8%Photovoltaic powered PBRs and Arduino microcontrollers will decrease cultivation cost.
微藻是具有低经济价值和高经济价值产品的有前途的来源，包括饲料和维生素补充剂。目前，它们的培养是在开放跑道池塘中利用阳光进行的。然而，这个过程有缺点，如由于气候变化和恶劣天气导致阳光辐照度波动。利用发光二极管的人工灯在光生物反应器中提供连续照明，并有助于外部和内部设计，有利于提高微藻生物质的体积生产率。然而，发光二极管的应用会增加高投入成本。虽然很久以前就估计了发光二极管的成本，但最近没有对其进行经济分析。本研究旨在列出发光二极管在微藻培养中的应用，参考内部照明光生物反应器，并评估人工照明的成本和能量平衡。计算表明，在微藻培养中应用发光二极管产生的电能成本约为 15.19 美元公斤 DW。电能转化为化学能（微藻生物质）的比例约为 6-8%。可以通过应用基于 Arduino 的自动控制系统来控制 LED 电源、光伏驱动的光生物反应器和额外的光，来降低发光二极管的成本。在本研究中还深入探讨了这些降低投入成本的技术。据估计，它们可以降低 50%的发光二极管成本。
亮点
讨论发光二极管在微藻培养中的当前应用
广泛讨论内部照明光生物反应器及其改进
利用发光二极管进行微藻培养的成本约为 15.19 美元公斤 DW
在培养过程中，电能的净保留率为 6-8%
光伏驱动的 PBR 和 Arduino 微控制器将降低培养成本。
