Flow-through photometric cell for online determination of the biomass content of microalgae Nannochloropsis sp. in the cultural environment

One of the promising directions of carbon-neutral energy development is the development of technologies for biofuel production from microalgae. Effective control of biotechnological processes in the field of cultivation of such microalgae requires express and effective methods of process control. In this study, a flow-through photometric cell has been designed and fabricated for online determination of the biomass content of the microalgae Nannochloropsis sp. in the culture medium. The microalgae biomass has been cultured in a custom-made photobioreactor. Using the fabricated cell, a series of photometric measurements of solutions of the grown biomass in the culture medium have been made. A linear dependence of absorbance on biomass content has been obtained from the results of measurements. The possibility of online determination of the biomass content of microalgae Nannochloropsis sp. in the culture medium using the developed flow-through photometric cell based on a laser with a working wavelength of 650 nm has been shown.