The FITOPLAN system resulted to be particularly effective for the cultivation of photosynthetic microalgae such as Nannochloropsis spp., Phaeodactylum spp., Chlorella spp., Tetraselmis spp., Pavlova spp., Isochrysis spp, Thalassiosira spp. And other species, obtaining variable daily productivities, depending on the strain, between 0.3 and 0.5 gl-1d-1. In the case of Nannochloropsis spp. The concentration reached is 1.3-1.5 billions cells per milliliter after a cultivation period of 7-10 solar days (7.6 g/l). Naturally it is necessary to choose an industrial cycle (start-up, growth, collection) to be 4 to 10 days long, and it has to be function of your internal organization (a cycle with collection rotation for the obtainment of a continuous production or with periodic collection for productions having fixed matureness). These choices depends on the expected qualitative and quantitative results and on the needs of your organization.
Occupied area
The area occupied by the production system in its basic version, 6 cylinders, is 2 m2. Clusters of 6 cylinders can be arranged next to one another to form a multi-cluster of 12, 18, 24 or 36 cylinders. In these cases, each cluster is a standalone unit. The air, the CO2 and water service are distributed with a backbone installed on the inner wall behind the clusters.
Energy consumption
The energy consumption for lighting indoor photo bioreactors is equal to 0.5 kW each.
Having regard to the particular geometry of the Fitoplan reactor, it is possible to evaluate the use of mixed light cycles (artificial / natural light) to reduce the energy requirements to approximately 1/3 of the total amount. The electrical energy savings obtained is around 60%, due to the minimum volume of the liquid medium illuminated, liquid that contains a concentration of cells produced up to 50/100 times higher than conventional systems.
Man power
The work requested for the system management results to be much lower than conventional and, depending on its size and organization, it is lower than the work applied in the traditional systems by 50-80%. Moreover this system allows considerable savings in the nutrients utilization for the alimentary enrichment, as an effect of the high cells concentration per milliliter; this very high cells concentration and the better quality of the final product is possible thanks to the FITOPLAN system, the latter determined by more effective controls. The manufacturer can guarantee the following design and construction characteristics for the plant:
- Process engineering and system design;
- Dimensional calculation of the recipients and the utilized equipments;
- Installation drawings, installation manuals and operational/maintenance manuals;
- Electrical schemes project;
- Specialized manpower for the installation and the start-up.
Features
- 6 cylinders cluster
- Very High cells concentration
- Above 1 billion (1 x 109) cells per ml
- Drastic reduction of starter
- 2 x 250W lamps power per reactor
- Automatic pH control
- Automatic temeprature control
- Reactor volume: 97 litres
- Annular design
- Automatic safety lamps switch-off
- Stainless Stell AISI 316 serpentine
- pH digital instrument on board
- T digital instrument on board
- Automatic safety cut-off switch
- Separated electric switches
- HDPE pipes for water servicies
- HDPE pipes for air servicie
- Rilsan air dispersion ring
- 1 μm absolute air filter
- Stainless steel filter housing
- Stainless steel AISI 316 structure
- Cluster size (cm): 220 x 110 x h:300
- 400 V + Neutral power supply
- 3 kW each cluster of 6 cylinders
- Water chiller included
- Water circulating pump included
- Air blower included
- Air valves included