Estimation of Chlorella vulgaris growth rate in a continuous photobioreactor

International audienceMicroalgae consume carbon dioxide for their growth and to produce secondary metabolites. One of the control system challenges is to maximize this carbon dioxide consumption by controlling microalgae growth, and by maintaining its growth rate at an optimal value. However, there is no such thing as a microalgae growth rate sensor. This paper proposes a software sensor for the specific growth rate and biomass concentration of a microalgae culture in a continuous photobioreactor using the measurements of Total Inorganic Carbon in the medium. Numerical simulations are included to illustrate the performance of the proposed estimation strategy