Evaluation of algal biomass production on vertical aeroponic substrates

Large scale algal biomass production has focused primarily on the Open Pond (OP) and Photobioreactor (PBR) systems, but to date neither system has been able to produce algae biofuel in a financially viable manner. For this reason, a novel aeroponic substrate based cultivation system was evaluated to determine if it could produce significant quantities of biomass without a negative impact on the lipid productivity and fatty acid profile compared to the two traditional systems. This vertical substrate system produced significant areal yields (exceeding 15gbiomassm−2floorspaced−1) assuming a 1:1 lab scale to full scale conversion and significant harvest concentrations (exceeding 4.94gbiomassL−1), resulting in reduced energy inputs and increased financial return. In addition to productivity increases, the aeroponic nature of this substrate system did not negatively affect the fatty acid composition of the cultivated biomass, thus demonstrating the promising potential for using substrate based systems to produce biofuel, nutraceuticals and feed for fisheries and various other applications. •A novel vertical aeroponic substrate based system for algae cultivation was evaluated.•A simple roller press can be used to harvest the algae, concentrating the effluent.•The new system produced similar biomass yields compared to OP and PBR systems.•The marine alga T. chuii and the freshwater alga P. kessleri were grown.•The new system warrants additional research to further optimize performance.