A system for producing microalgae in the form of biofilm, including a frame, a motor, at least one support and a web designed to receive the biofilm and in which the frame is configured to support the motor, the motor is configured to impart a rotational movement on at least one support, the at least one support is configured to have a rotational movement about an axis of rotation and to support and impart the rotational movement on the web, and the web is configured to at least partially surround the at least one support, wherein that the support is configured to have a non-negative buoyancy in a liquid.

In one embodiment, an algae cultivation system includes a basin that contains a liquid and a photobioreactor at least partially immersed in the liquid of the basin, the photobioreactor comprising a closed container including multiple panels that together define an interior space in which algae can be cultivated, at least one of the panels being transparent, the photobioreactor further comprising an inflatable float associated with the container that can be filled with a gas to change one or both of the position and orientation of the container within the liquid.

System and methods for monitoring the growth of an aquatic plant culture and detecting real-time characteristics associated with the aquatic plant culture aquatic plants. The systems and methods may include a control unit configured to perform an analysis of at least one image of an aquatic plant culture. The analysis may include processing at least one collected image to determine at least one physical characteristic or state of an aquatic plant culture. Systems and methods for distributing aquatic plant cultures are also provided. The distribution systems and methods may track and control the distribution of an aquatic plant culture based on information received from various sources. Systems and methods for growing and harvesting aquatic plants in a controlled and compact environment are also provided. The systems may include a bioreactor having a plurality of vertically stacked modules designed to contain the aquatic plants and a liquid growth medium.

The invention relates to a buoyant photobioreactor arrangement, wherein the photobioreactor arrangement is buoyant on a surface water, and comprises a) a transparent photobioreactor container, b) a floating body that is buoyant on the surface water and c) a holding device arranged at or on the floating body holding the transparent photobioreactor container, the photobioreactor container being able to be lowered into the surface water by means of the holding device.

The Biopowerplant is a system that integrates the generation of carbon-neutral energy through the cultivation and conversion of microalgal biomass, with sewage sanitation and environmental carbon recovery, with the additional and secondary production of biofertilizer, biofuel, water for reuse. This system integrates a suboptimal anaerobic digestion subsystem focused on the generation of biogas, the processing of the resulting digestate through a microalgal consortium culture subsystem with biofilm induction and smooth decreasing gradient of light radiation, and the transformation of the generated microalgal biomass into syngas through a subsystem of evaporation, torrefaction, pyrolysis, gasification, and combustion in separate chambers. The syngas and methane from the biogas are subsequently used as fuel in an electric power generator capable of operating with mixed gases. The biogas generation process is enriched through the recirculation of the microalgal biomass supernatant, the residual heat from the syngas generation subsystem, and the heat transferred from the combustion gases of the electric generator. The residual sludge from the biogas generation subsystem is recirculated towards a longitudinal biopile subsystem, where it acts as an anaerobic medium compared to the aerobic medium that constitutes the concentrated microalgal biomass, and both streams are mixed to be transformed into the syngas generation subsystem. Input inflows for system operation are mainly sewage, and optionally seawater and/or leachate. The inflows must be bioaugmented with a microalgal consortium dosed automatically by a Compact in situ bioaugmentation system, preferably more than 3 kilometers before the inflow enters the system.

The invention relates to a bioreactor including: a light source (200); a light sensor (300) facing said light source; a vat (100) that is placed between the light source (200) and the light sensor (300), said vat being intended to receive a culture medium comprising a cellular culture of photosynthetic microorganisms; a controller (400) connected to the light sensor (300) in order to control the vat (100) to obtain a chosen cellular-culture concentration (xi) in the culture medium during a working period, said light source (200) being capable of emitting incident light (L) of an input light intensity (Iin) in the direction of the vat (100), and the light sensor (300) being capable of measuring an output light intensity (Iout) and of transmitting data relating to this intensity (Iout) to the controller for the control of the vat; and a system (500) for controlling the light source (200), this system being arranged to adjust, during a period shorter than or equal to said working period, the input light intensity (Iin) to a setpoint value allowing a cellular stress to be induced in certain at least of said photosynthetic microorganisms.

A method of inducing expression of a calcium channel and/or a calcium pump in a cell includes: irradiating the cell with light in a wavelength range of 315-325 nm. The calcium channel and/or the calcium pump is/are at least one selected from the group consisting of dihydropyridine receptor (DHPR), voltage-gated calcium channel (VGCC), ryanodine receptor (RYR), and sarcoendoplasmic reticulum Ca.sup.2+-ATPase (SERCA).

One aspect of this disclosure is a method for maintaining a plankton population in a culture medium by removing particles from the culture medium. The method may comprise rotating a filter body to lift the particles from the culture medium with a filter of the filter body, positioning the filter relative to a conduit so that a first portion of the lifted particles fall into the conduit, directing a removal fluid toward the filter body to move a second portion of the lifted particles off the filter and into the conduit with impact forces applied by the removal fluid, and/or outputting an effluent flow from the conduit. The effluent flow may comprise the first and second portions of the lifted particles and a portion of the removal fluid. Aspects of related apparatus, methods, and systems also are disclosed.

Floating ponds for the cultivation of algae are disclosed. The floating ponds consist of a buoyant framework, a liner, a culture, and a mooring system. Submersible floating ponds are disclosed with a buoyant framework built from tubes that may be filled or partially filled with, for example, air, or water, or the surrounding water, or the culture, and thereby the present invention provides a framework in which the buoyancy may be modulated. Use of submerging lines and spools are disclosed to control the orientation and depth of the floating pond during submersion.

A method of cultivating algal cells of an algae belonging to a class selected from Chlorophyceae, Euglenophyceae, Bacillariophyceae and Haptophyceae includes: irradiating the algal cells with an artificial light having a ratio of (i) photon flux density in a wavelength range of 520-630 nm to (ii) photosynthetic photon flux density, that is 65% or more; and measuring a condition of the algal cells and/or a condition of an algal cell culture provided by cultivating the algal cells. Irradiation and non-irradiation of the algal cells with the artificial light are switched, or the photon flux density in the wavelength range of 520-630 nm is changed, according to the measured condition of the algal cells and/or the measured condition of the algal cell culture.