Desarrollo de un sistema de control y monitoreo de un fotobiorreactor airlift para el cultivo de microalgas por lotes.

Abstract

Several educational and research institutions are trying to counteract the adverse effects of climate change. One of these aspects to counteract is the emission of CO2. However, currently the mainstay of this research is the production of microalgae biomass, for this reason all studies should focus on the design of microalgae culture medium systems that are efficient both in the increase of biomass and in its quality. The objective of this project is to develop a control and monitoring system for a prototype airlift photobioreactor for the cultivation of batch microalgae. To this end, the research question is as follows: Will the design of an airlift photobioreactor with control and monitoring of the bioprocess allow for better yields of microalgal biomass production?. In this context, the variables that must be measured and controlled in the cultivation of microalgae are increasingly numerous, the performance of the process depends on good control of these variables. The research project is answered through a design and implementation of a fully controlled and monitored prototype. With the prototype, all types of external variables were mitigated, for which 4 variables of influence were taken: Agitation, Temperature, Luminosity, pH. The responses obtained in terms of production was an increase in microalgae biomass, as well as the control of the bioprocess, the previous thing being verified by comparing it with a manual photobioreactor and realizing the kinematics of growth of the two prototypes. Bearing this in mind, it is recommended that future research groups in the biotechnology area optimize the control of the microalgae bioprocess, and not only work on a small scale but move on to a large production of microalgae in batches. Several of the conclusions obtained indicate that agitation should be taken as a variable of greater influence, as well as carrying out future investigations of which are the most suitable microalgae for this type of bioprocess.