Progress on the development of floating photobioreactor for microalgae cultivation and its application potential

Microalgae present great potential to replace land crops for the efficient production of large volumes of biomass for food, feed, fuels, and chemicals, as well as to treat wastewater and capture carbon. However, the commercialization of these technologies for bulk commodities requires a great reduction in the current microalgal biomass production cost. The bioreactor is the core of bioprocess engineering and is the premise for the commercial application of certain types of biotechnology. The challenges of phototrophic cultivation are completely different from those of heterotrophic processes because the efficiency of phototrophic cultivation is limited by the energy density of the input sunlight and the inorganic carbon supply. Thus, the development of microalgae cultivation technologies with low manufacturing and operating costs is key to addressing this problem, and floating photobioreactors (PBRs) are a promising solution. PBRs are deployed on the water surface without any land requirements, and wave energy provides free mixing energy. Additionally, the surrounding water can be used to control the culture temperature and to supply nutrients for microalgae growth. In this mini-review, the development of floating PBRs and their recent progress are presented. The effect of the carbon supply approach on the mixing and scaling-up of floating PBRs are critically discussed. The limitations and challenges in commercial applications of floating PBRs are analysed, and the need for future research is proposed. Finally, it is noted that microalgae farming on the ocean is a promising solution for human society to address the challenge of land space exhaustion due to the global population boom.