MIPHO - Multispectral bioreactor for phototrophic organisms

Phototrophic organisms are a diverse group of photosynthetic prokaryotes and eukaryotes which use carbon dioxide, water and light energy to build-up biomass. Due to their rapid growth characteristics and simple genetic structure they are promising host organisms for the production of recombinant high-value products. Nevertheless, algal research is still in a very early stage and so a more comprehensive knowledge in the fields of physiological characterization, molecular biology techniques and photobioreactor design are necessary. Various photobioreactor designs with different light sources ranging from halogen lamps, fluorescent lamps to light emitting diods (LEDs) are available for lab-scale cultivation of phototrophs.

During the past research project OLEmibi a miniaturized 3D-printed OLED- based flat panel airlift reactor system with integrated optical sensors for the cultivation parameter pH, dissolved oxygen, dissolved carbon dioxide, chlorophyll fluorescence and cell density was designed and evaluated (Figure 1).

Based on the results of OLEmibi the project MIPHO aims to further develop the miniaturized cultivation platform regarding the establishment of a continuous process operation and the development of spectral optimized OLED light sources.