Undergraduate Research Assistant

Microalgae are very small (about 5 micrometers in diameter), single-celled organisms that have recently shown great promise for addressing emissions-based climate change. Since microalgae metabolizes via photosynthesis, it can capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as it grows. Further, the high oil content in the cells makes it ideal for use as a biofuel (such as biodiesel), particularly for transportation sectors that are more difficult to electrify (transport trucks, jets, etc.). Despite its promise as a dual purpose carbon capture and biofuel source mechanism, cultivation of microalgae has yet to be carried out at industrial scales. A key reason for this is the complexity of these systems. Algae is a living organism, three phases interact during its cultivation (semi-solid algae cells, liquid growth medium and gaseous carbon dioxide) among other complexities. The purpose of this project is to quantify the effect of hydrodynamic properties on cultivation efficiency. Namely, the following system parameters will be studied: bubble sizing, PBR aspect ratio, bubble speed, and bubble void fraction. 

In this study, microalgae are cultivated in several bubble column reactors with varying properties (bubble size, reactor size/shape, etc.). The undergraduate research assistants will maintain the reactors and monitor algae growth for each using a microscope for cell counting. This data will be tabulated to determine how reactor design and operating conditions affect microalgae growth.