Scale-up Problems for the Large Scale Production of Algae

Abstract

Microalgae are a natural source of high-value compounds for pharmaceutical and food industry and can also be a source of biofuels. Usually naturally occurring algae live completely submerged in aquatic environments, as low density cellular suspension. To have significant social, environmental and economic impact on human society, algae must be grown in large scale systems, in order to significantly increase the production volume. The objective of a process scale-up is to enlarge the production quantities with similar or higher productivity and product quality.