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Cost-effective and sustainable microalgae cultivation: A low-cost artificially integrated LED photobioreactor ensuring high-quality algal biomass production from industrial CO2 flue gas in a high latitude country

Jose Gayo Pelaez, Darren Oatley-Radcliffe Orcid Logo, Alla Silkina Orcid Logo, Andrew Barron

Cleaner and Circular Bioeconomy, Volume: 13

Swansea University Authors: Jose Gayo Pelaez, Darren Oatley-Radcliffe Orcid Logo, Alla Silkina Orcid Logo, Andrew Barron

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DOI (Published version): 10.1016/j.clcb.2026.100209

Abstract

The equipment required for large-scale production of quality microalgal biomass is costly to set-up. To address this challenge a novel low-cost internally illuminated reactor ‘the Cube’ has been developed, which is suitable for deployment in high latitude countries with low natural light conditions....

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Published in: Cleaner and Circular Bioeconomy
ISSN: 2772-8013
Published: Elsevier BV 2026
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71537
Abstract: The equipment required for large-scale production of quality microalgal biomass is costly to set-up. To address this challenge a novel low-cost internally illuminated reactor ‘the Cube’ has been developed, which is suitable for deployment in high latitude countries with low natural light conditions. This innovative concept combines the use of low-cost materials, LED lighting, effective temperature and pH control technology to produce high quality algal biomass from industrial CO2 effluent at low initial capital cost. This study evaluated the ability of the cube by growing Arthrospira platensis (Spirulina). The reactor achieved biomass concentrations of 1.37 g L-1 and 80.5 mg L-1 day-1 productivity in a 1 m3vol that occupies 1 m2, with consistent productivity spanning 78 days, surpassing some of the existing most cost-effective microalgae cultivation system designs currently available. Aerial productivity was demonstrated as 92.1 kg year-1 m-2 compared to 4.2 kg year-1 m-2 for a comparable raceway. Protein composition was 54.1% and phycocyanin content was 78.27 mg g-1 of biomass. An economic appraisal gave capital cost as £12,776.60 per m3 reactor and potential profits from pigment and protein production lead to a payback period of only 1.7 years. This novel reactor demonstrates sustainable profits from carbon capture and reuse.
Keywords: Spirulina; Cyanobacteria; Microalgae; Circular economy; Sustainability; LED; Photobioreactor
College: Faculty of Science and Engineering
Funders: This work was part funded by the Industrial Decarbonation Research and Innovation Centre (IDRIC) and the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS); Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage Innovation 2.0 grant – Project LightARC - algae remediation of CO2, CCUS 2201.

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