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Influence of nutrients and LED light intensities on biomass production of microalgae Chlorella vulgaris

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Abstract

Microalgae are viable sources of biological compounds for biodiesel production. In this study, effects of various types of nitrogen sources and nutrients concentrations in the growth medium and different LED light wavelengths and intensities on biomass production of green algae Chlorella vulgaris were investigated. Warm white light with 80 µmol/m2/sec light intensity was determined as the optimal light for biomass production. The results indicated that microalgae growth with urea as nitrogen source was higher than that of other nitrogen sources such as sodium nitrate, ammonium carbonate and ammonium chloride. Maximum biomass concentration (1.37 g/L) was obtained under the following media compositions: urea 0.25 g/L, K2HPO4 0.04 g/L, MgSO4· 7H2O 0.06 g/L, and ammonium ferric citrate 0.01 g/L. Microalgae growth data under the different light wavelengths and intensities were fitted with a mathematical model.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biotechnology Research Lab., Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Babol Noshirvani University of Technology, Babol, Iran

    Arezoo Khalili, Ghasem D. Najafpour & Faezeh Samkhaniyani

  2. Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Mazandaran University of Science and Technology, Babol, Iran

    Ghazaleh Amini

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  1. Arezoo Khalili
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  2. Ghasem D. Najafpour
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  3. Ghazaleh Amini
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Correspondence to Ghasem D. Najafpour.

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Khalili, A., Najafpour, G.D., Amini, G. et al. Influence of nutrients and LED light intensities on biomass production of microalgae Chlorella vulgaris . Biotechnol Bioproc E 20, 284–290 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12257-013-0845-8

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