Characterization of Oxygen Production in Algal Suspension Culture by Dimensionless Equation

The present analysis aims to investigate the oxygen production in algal suspensions and match it to a developed mathematical model based on dimensionless equations. The intrinsic biomass production rate in a liquid algal suspension is affected by both environmental conditions and the available nutrient composition. With excess amount of nutrients in the media and at some constant environmental conditions, we have analyzed the photosynthetic rate of the culture under varying light intensities with consideration to the concentration of the algal suspension. We have measured the amount of oxygen production by the cells under different light intensities and measured the amount of respiration of the biomass in the darkness to develop an equation that describes the net oxygen production rate. Consequently, we could fit the algal suspension characterization to dimensionless mathematical equations that describe the oxygen production by the cells. The dimensionless equations are useful for understanding and determining the relevant bioprocess parameters in a general way. Dimensionless equations make the solution simple by using numerical methods and reduce the number of times a set of equations need to be solved. The good correlation between experimental data and mathematical models opens up new avenues for the design of mixed trophic biomaterials in a wide range of fields, such as innovative therapeutic methodologies, revolutionary regenerative medicine and tissue engineering, to name a few.