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Updated: Sep 22, 2025
A Novel Bioreactor for High Density Cultivation of Diverse Microbial Communities
Published on: December 25, 2015
A novel magnet-driven rotary mixing aerator for carbon dioxide fixation and microalgae cultivation: Focusing on
Nan Li1, Cheng Chen1, Fazheng Zhong1
1Key Laboratory of Low-grade Energy Utilization Technologies and Systems, Chongqing University, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400044, China; Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China.
Abstract:
A novel magnet-driven rotary mixing aerator (MDRMA) was proposed to reduce the diameter and rising rate of bubbles while improving CO2 mass transfer during microalgae growth in a column photobioreactor. Visualization results showed that the bubble number density increased significantly with the increasing rotation rate of MDRMA. As the rotation rate increased from 0 to 300 r min-1, the average bubble diameter decreased from 3.8 mm to 2.0 mm (47.4% reduction), while the corresponding average bubble rising rate decreased from 0.32 m s-1 to 0.22 m s-1 (31.3% reduction). Notably, when the rotation rate of MDRMA exceeded 300 r min-1, a significant number of microbubbles with diameters below 0.5 mm were generated. When synthetic flue gas containing 12% CO2 (v/v) was supplied for microalgae cultivation, a maximum biomass concentration of 1.75 g L-1 was obtained with rotating MDRMA at 200 r min-1, showing a 57.7% increase compared to the control aerated with a silicone tube aerator. Meanwhile, the pigment content reached 14.48 mg L-1, 22.7% higher than that of the control.
