Pilot-scale open-channel raceways and flat-panel photobioreactors maintain well-mixed conditions under a wide range of mixing energy inputs

Turbulent mixing in pilot-scale cultivation systems influences the productivity of photoautotrophic cultures. We studied turbulent mixing by applying particle image velocimetry and acoustic doppler velocimetry to pilot-scale, flat-panel photobioreactor, and open-channel raceway. Mixing energy inputs were varied from 0.1 to 2.1 W·m⁻³. The experimental results were used to quantify turbulence and to validate computational fluid dynamics models, from which Lagrangian representations of the fluid motion in these reactors were derived. The results of this investigation demonstrated that differences in mixing energy input do not significantly impact the structure of turbulence and the light/dark cycling frequencies experienced by photoautotrophic cells within the reactors. The experimental and computational results of our research demonstrated that well-mixed conditions exist in pilot-scale, flat-panel photobioreactors and open-channel raceways, even for relatively low mixing energy inputs.