To optimize the commercial yield of lipid-rich microalgae (Chlorella vulgaris) in a vertical column photobioreactor, a marine biotechnologist uses specialized narrow-spectrum blue LED arrays.

The daily increase in dry algal biomass density ( $B$ ) can be calculated using the following equation:

\frac{\eta E}{0.08 C}

where:

$E$ is the daily incident photosynthetic light energy flux density absorbed by the reactor volume
$η\eta$ is the light absorption efficiency of the algal chlorophyll antenna complex
$C$ is the specific energy equivalent required to synthesize a unit of dry microalgae biomass

The table below shows the parameters recorded for the LED bioreactor system:

Parameter	Value	Unit
Light energy flux ( $E$ )	$5.25 \times 10^{-2}$	$d−1\text{MJ m}^{-3}\text{ d}^{-1}$
Light absorption efficiency ( $η\eta$ )	$0.64$	dimensionless
Specific energy of biomass ( $C$ )	$25$	$kg−1\text{MJ kg}^{-1}$

To optimize the commercial yield of lipid-rich microalgae (Chlorella vulgaris) in a vertical column photobioreactor, a marine biotechnologist uses specialized narrow-spectrum blue LED arrays.

The daily increase in dry algal biomass density ( $B$ ) can be calculated using the following equation:

\frac{\eta E}{0.08 C}

where:

$E$ is the daily incident photosynthetic light energy flux density absorbed by the reactor volume
$η\eta$ is the light absorption efficiency of the algal chlorophyll antenna complex
$C$ is the specific energy equivalent required to synthesize a unit of dry microalgae biomass

The table below shows the parameters recorded for the LED bioreactor system:

Parameter	Value	Unit
Light energy flux ( $E$ )	$5.25 \times 10^{-2}$	$d−1\text{MJ m}^{-3}\text{ d}^{-1}$
Light absorption efficiency ( $η\eta$ )	$0.64$	dimensionless
Specific energy of biomass ( $C$ )	$25$	$kg−1\text{MJ kg}^{-1}$

Energy and ecosystems (A-level only)

Question 2

Markscheme

Energy and ecosystems (A-level only)

Question 2

Markscheme

Energy and ecosystems (A-level only)

Question 2

Energy and ecosystems (A-level only) Questions

Energy and ecosystems (A-level only)

Question 2

Energy and ecosystems (A-level only) Questions