The contamination and control of biological pollutants in mass cultivation of microalgae

► Biological contamination in mass cultivation of microalgae is inevitable. ► Transmission routes of biological pollutants are analyzed. ► Different biological pollutants species have different contamination mechanisms. ► Recent attempts to overcome the contamination are under active study. The pote...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Bioresource technology 2013-01, Vol.128, p.745-750
Main Authors: Wang, Hui, Zhang, Wei, Chen, Lin, Wang, Junfeng, Liu, Tianzhong
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological
Biological and medical sciences
Biomass
Bioreactors - microbiology
Cell Culture Techniques - methods
Contamination
Cultivation
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Industrial research
Microalgae - physiology
Microalgal biomass
Microorganisms
Open ponds
Photobioreactor
Pollutants
Ponds
Water Pollutants - analysis
Water Pollutants - metabolism
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Summary:► Biological contamination in mass cultivation of microalgae is inevitable. ► Transmission routes of biological pollutants are analyzed. ► Different biological pollutants species have different contamination mechanisms. ► Recent attempts to overcome the contamination are under active study. The potential of microalgae as a biomass feedstock for biofuels, bioproducts and as a technological solution for CO2 fixation is subject to intense academic and industrial researches. However, current microalgal mass culture technologies have failed to produce bulk volume of microalgal biomass at low cost, because the contaminations of biological pollutants become a big constraint in mass cultivation and impede the industrial process. Here the transmission routes, contamination mechanisms of biological pollutants both in open ponds and photobioreactors are described and recent attempts to overcome the barrier are reviewed. What worth noting, unlike conventional microbial fermentation which uses a pure monoculture, the cultivation of microalgae is a complicated symbiotic system of microalgae–bacterial–zooplankton where the target microalgae dominate, cross infection or contamination by biological pollutants is inevitable and it will require much further research. Further investigation and development of control methods are necessary, particularly microalgal strain selection.
ISSN:0960-8524
1873-2976
DOI:10.1016/j.biortech.2012.10.158