Thanks you all for the great feedback and recommendations. I set up an inbox if you want to contact me directly regarding this project: rafik.photobioreactor@gmail.com As for an interim update on this projects since I posted the video here is what I have accomplished: 1. I completed building a much larger 64L reactor that has improved on this design tremendously 2. I scrapped the old control system and am currently building on top of another project running on a raspberry pi (more details to come) 3. Implemented a software filter to clean up data and calculate growth rates 4. Built 2 custom optical density sensors based on absorbance and diffuse reflectance respectively While I did promise in this video to release some subsequent videos detailing some additional details, I will not be doing that right now. I am currently focused on the new system's development and video production would take away from that at this time. Instead I will work on getting a second video out about my progress detailing some of the items listed above. I am looking for others with the skills and experience to make the commercial system a reality so if you believe you can help in some capacity don't hesitate to contact me using the inbox above. There is still lots to explore so your patience is appreciated, let me cook.
Hey Rafik, Im also an engineer and am currently looking to do something similar. You said something about a pump destroying the algea? Where did you read this? Im actually using a centrifugal pump without any issues? Also we should really talk regarding the control setup. Ive been where you are with the esp and then the raspberry pi. But trust me thats so difficult and time consuming.
@@renederen2696 check out Handbook of Microalgal Culture by Amos Richmond, few references of research abt damage caused by centrifugal pumps stunting growth. I am very happy with my control system now. Shoot me an email ^
@@renederen2696⚠️ God has said in the Quran: 🔵 { O mankind, worship your Lord, who created you and those before you, that you may become righteous - ( 2:21 ) 🔴 [He] who made for you the earth a bed [spread out] and the sky a ceiling and sent down from the sky, rain and brought forth thereby fruits as provision for you. So do not attribute to Allah equals while you know [that there is nothing similar to Him]. ( 2:22 ) 🔵 And if you are in doubt about what We have sent down upon Our Servant [Muhammad], then produce a surah the like thereof and call upon your witnesses other than Allah, if you should be truthful. ( 2:23 ) 🔴 But if you do not - and you will never be able to - then fear the Fire, whose fuel is men and stones, prepared for the disbelievers.( 2:24 ) 🔵 And give good tidings to those who believe and do righteous deeds that they will have gardens [in Paradise] beneath which rivers flow. Whenever they are provided with a provision of fruit therefrom, they will say, "This is what we were provided with before." And it is given to them in likeness. And they will have therein purified spouses, and they will abide therein eternally. ( 2:25 ) ⚠️ Quran
Turbidity sensors in industry tend to have debubblers and light excluders as well as a water jet or self cleaning setup. Would be happy to send you some beefier sensors that have that feature if you keep getting the sensor issues.
Thank you for the feedback. I dont know enough about these sensors yet. Would you be able to recommend a company or a model for these sensors I could look at.
I don't know much of the PNNL, but do you think that you could grow shrimp in a large man made pool, feeding it phytoplankton that you've grown in a pool right next to it. Also perhaps growing seaweed as food for the plankton too? I wonder why no one has tried to do this in say Nevada, or something, just to try it out and see if they could get the cost low enough to compete with other shrimp operations? Also do you know is there a better way to grow mushrooms, dehydrated them, grind them up, add water and put them into a mold to be able to replace styrofoam at a reasonable rate? Just seems we have the answers but big money, like Bill Gates doesn't want it to happen. The only thing I have seen him do to actually help the world or humanity is to try to build Small Modular Reactors with TerraPower. Cheers!
Please upload more! Currently, I'm a nuclear operator and don't have time to build this myself, but I'm extremely interested in doing so within a couple of years. Your progress and videos would be a wonderful reservoir of information for me to have at my disposal and I'd greatly appreciate it! Thank you so much for sharing your project!!! I've been ruminating on the idea of a large tank with LED lights inside of hollow tubes spaced a few inches apart so as to ensure even lighting in the medium. What do you think of it? Again, I don't have any practical experience with this, so take my idea with a grain of salt! Cannot wait to see more!
I have the same thought but it increase the electricity cost.... I have another idea if we put acrylic tube in the mixture (not hollow tube) and the outer surface is diffued, apply led or light source from the tip of that acrylic tube, by this way it will illuminate like a tube light in water. By this way we can save electricity cost... I don't know if it will work or not but just have a thought.
Agreed. I think the idea of circular farming/ag systems are great and are likely underutilized in our world. I wonder if you could have a land locked shrimp farm, that has a +2 large swimming pool sized pools for the shrimp, and another food pool full of phytoplankton and seaweed. Grow the phytoplankton to feed to the shrimp. This would allow a much more controlled growing, but it would also make it so the producers of the food could add vitamins and minerals to the shrimp more easily. I don't know, just a thought.
Major kudos for putting in the effort to keep things simple, affordable, and scientifically rigorous. A modular system like this could be scaled up for everything from homes to skyscrapers to space stations.
I love how you've overcome some of the engineering obstacles associated with a project like this. For a bacterial and fungal contamination check, I think your best bet is a microbiological approach with agar plates and plate streaking looking for colony growth. I don't think it's something you yourself would need to do because it takes a handful of dedicated equipment- incubator, agar, Luria broth, plates. Your closed system allows for a high degree of control of input, which is great for sterility. You might consider experimenting with UV irradiation of input fluid.
The main issue that Techno-Economists face is the fact that emerging technologies in this field are literally batting against a Market Failure when it comes to competing against polluting, Fossil fueled industries. The fact that producing and releasing harmful chemicals is an External Cost not factored into production means that emerging technologies will be at an economic disadvantage. Pricing emissions correctly and policing it strictly will lead to such a technological leap, when things like Algae, Yeast, and Vat-Production becomes more economically viable. Hats off to all the researchers and scientists laying the groundwork for this technology. The future is relying on this kind of good work.
Excellent project! Very interesting topic with a well executed inexpensive construction. Consider the following in no particular order: - Use socket head cap screws instead of philips head - Increase o-ring cross section diameter and possibly reduce durometer - Increase cap to pipe clearance - Add drain valve to bottom coupling - For finer more well distributed bubbles; increase pump pressure and decrease orifice size in coupler - +1 to RedMavis on the reflective wrap around the LEDs - Space the diode strip away from the pipe surface a little - Record temperature in reactor - Integrate sampling and dilution ports into coupling - Orient the turbidity sensor vertically at the bottom of a small free surface reservoir with a removable cap This will facilitate easy cleaning of the turbidity sensor with a pipe brush - Use a tee instead of an elbow above the LEDs for cleaning access Again, excellent work! Let us know how quickly the system fouls. Rock on!
Thanks for all the great recommendations. I'm already working on a couple of these. In terms of fouling system is still running with minimal fouling on the elbows (they are quite sharp turns) and I switched the flow direction by swapping the airflow. Seems like the straight pipes are still clean.
Fantastic video! Growing algae is such an innovative and sustainable way to contribute to our environment. I loved the step-by-step process you shared here; it's both informative and inspiring. Keep up the great work! 🌿💧 #Sustainability #AlgaeGrowth
2:45 Interestingly, for “Hydrothermal Liquifaction” (HTL) doesn’t need the drying step and makes a near drop-in replacement for Crude Oil. All you need is basically a lab grade pressure cooker type thing and catalysts if I understand correctly. Granted tuning it is a whole other beast. I have read that salt and iron may cause issues, but “desalters” and “hydro-demetalization” are common units in crude oil processing. And what would be extracted is a lot less nasty than the contaminants in crude oil! Other processes to look into would be Supercritical Water Gasification, and Entrained Flow Gasification, both of which use slurries if i remember correctly. (Or Hydrothermal Carbonization if you love coal enough to make it instead of Oil) (Edit: Typo Fix)
Nice work. Couple of moments regarding design of this system. Usially problem with low speed in down part of the loop is solved with high airflow(up to ~0,5 volume of air per volume of system per minute) and/or having down tube of smaller diameter than up tube. While your solution solves problem with algae buildup it further reduces efficiency of water circulation, as main driving force is density differential between up/down parts of the loop and usually you want to have down part with as little air bubbles as possible.
Hi. The video was great! Have you considered that the walls of the tubes, being made of plastic, might become opaque over time and reduce light intake? My next question is, how many grams of dried product did you obtain from this 64-liter system?
I am very fascinated by algae because I want to make biofuel like diesel and gasoline so I can an be independent farmer and save money. Thank you for this video :3. I was unable to find info for homemade biofuel from algae on most common online forums so this video was kinda helpful for that too.
Great contribution, wish I had more to offer than support but am seriously looking forward to your next instalment. Keep up the great work and I hope you achieve optimum!
Interesting project thanks for putting all the work in. Would the pipe degrade over time (as it is plastic) affecting the algae, especially with the led strip around it ?
Excellent travail ! Une telle simplicité et efficacité est la preuve d'une grande intelligence ! Bravo ! Pour automatiser le nettoyage, il est possible de mettre des petites billes de plastique dans la culture 😉
In time I think this may be what I want to do. You did a good job making that all yourself. I wish I could do all that to prove its functionality before implementing in the community. Algae can also be used for bio plastics, it may also be the most powerful co2 capture as a plant based solution. 👍
Curious do you think there is a way to build a land locked shrimp farm, that would eat phytoplankton or regular plankton, that could be grown in a circular farming system? Perhaps include some seaweed if need be to help the cycle too? To have a closed loop system, adding only the minimum necessary for the system to survive. Thanks for the hard work and demonstration in the video.
My comments were deleted by UA-cam! Uggg, Great project, I worry about the use of the roller pump killing or damaging the organism each time it samples. Having built a bioreactor in the past your approach is a solid one. Look forward to seeing more!
Thanks for the feedback! I chose the peristaltic/roller pump as a lesser evil compared to a pump with an impellor. The good news is that the contact area between the bearings and the housing is small compared to the volume moved so damage should be minimal. At this point, I'd rather have the sensor built in to the system to remove the sampling requirement all together but that would come with its own set of challenges
Now if you used electrochemical plates to separate co2 from the air and contain it for use in the photo bioreactor. It may produce faster and greater yields.
I look forward to seeing the coding side of the project and the next steps you take. I plan on building a small system to grow feed for animals, which could be an automated section that presses the algae into pellets.
I would consider wrapping mylar around the lights. Maybe try a symbiotic system with the O2 being generated. Feed the escape values to a room underneath where you grow some mushrooms. Put air intake in that room.
Awesome, keep it up! For a bigger better clear tubes, look for replacement quarts tubes used in outdoor propane heaters. They’re 4-5” diameter, around 60” long and reasonable price. Consider using sunlight to feed the energy during the day, the intensity will be waaay higher than the led strip. You could use reflective Mylar film to form a ‘solar oven’ parabolic shape, on the side opposite the sun, so increase the intensity further, and hit all sides of the tube evenly.
A density monitor that self-cleaned, and ideally didn't need to remove algae from the grow chamber, would be an excellent next step. Also, we really need to grow spirulina on carbon from the atmosphere, not from dissolved minerals in the grow medium. I've seen references to growing it in lye solution, which alkalinises the medium without adding carbonate, but I haven't been able to find any reports of how well this works. Thoughts?
Great idea as well as the video itself! Would love to see more. What if I would like to follow the project and build something similar, are you willing to open source the project?
Hey, interesting project, would like to create something like that myself. Thanks for sharing and the data you gathered, am looking forward for an update!
I just found thus video. Very cool. Are there any updates? When I put pipes with o-rings together for a water tight seal, I normally add vasoline to the washers. It keeps them plyable and also helps the seal due to its density and it doesn't like to mix with water. I like the design. What are your plans with the collected biomass? Thanks
This is awesome, well done! I wonder what kind of further growth you could get by injecting CO2 instead of just outside air? It would be interesting to look at that concentration in the air before on injection and after it bubbles out.
You could occasionally run some distilled water through the turbidity sensor to detect when it’s contaminated. Perhaps you could introduce clean water into the system through the sensor, and measure at the same time?
Очень интересная конструкция! Как на счет того чтобы выложить 3D моделей на thingiverse? И что это за интересные прозрачные трубки для вентиляции?? Я в наших магазинах встречал только непрозрачные белые.
Great project well explained. One thing about purity checking under the microscope: you can see the fairly big algae but it may be difficult to spot bacteria. If you stay with the microscope there is a technique called "oil immersion" to increase the resolution. Also the samples can be dried and stained. Not sure what specific species of bacteria survive at pH 10, but I am sure unless Spirulina produces some bacteriostatic compounds you should find some. Other than that what needs to be investigated are cyanobacteria with a potential to produce toxins.
Absolutely brilliant. I'm really looking forward to the next episode. I once found a large string of algae that had grown in the light of a water treatment turbidimeter, so it seems almost inevitable that you're going to have false positives with external turbidimeters here. Perhaps you could find a frequency that can't be used for photosynthesis..?
Thank you! I agree that external monitoring isn't ideal. Working on integrating it into the reactor. Turbidity meter uses infrared light. Fouling will occur regardless of growth. I am following along on the amybo project as well.
What about fiber optics inside larger vessels. The fibers would move around from the water currents, you get some decent light distribution. Ive used a system called dosatron for hydroponic inline automatic feeding and ph adjustments. The side emission fiber optic ive used before was called light pipe by 3m. Could you just measure density from observing the tube outside rather than a sensor that fights biofilms.
If you wrap the lights with aluminum foil, you will reflect a massive amount of more light. You can wrap tight or loose. If you put a hoop around it and wrap the foil around that, you can run a small fan in the gap, to keep the LEDs cooler, so that they last longer.
Not a lot of views (yet) so i feel obliged to comment: very nice project! Clearly explained. Interested to see how you will do the self cleaning, does that also include the light absorbing sensor?
Brainstormed some ideas for self-cleaning. The benefit of this system is if you get the airflow and geometry right to maintain constant flow, it prevents most build-up. The sensor cleaning is at the top of the list right now as it is a single point of vulnerability
Hello Rafik Nassif, this is Aaryan. I was instructed to make a project based on the topic Algae Biofuel Reactor. I surfed and found your video! Everything you explained was ok, I understood it well except for a few things. Sorry as I'm a school student and haven't researched well in this topic's field, henceforth I wasn't able to understand some topics. Firstly, *how and from where the algae will be extracted?* Are there any other methods or any substitutes for the couplers, as I can't make print it 3 dimensionally? Hopes for a faster reply!
Hey Rafik, I have watched this a few times now. Well done. I want to print the whole thing. what kind of filament did you use? Also are you interested in sharing your designs... I do not have a background in engineering. Thanks
When the algae are mature and high in transglycerides, don't they want to float? If you have a Solid cad model, I can add a few cheap features to help with harvesting and anti-fouling. Basically add two "T' sections at the tops of each vertical leg. One to collect concentrated, mature algae-- can also insert 3d printed anti-fouling spiral auger squeegees that can be automated. Also, I can model in a mobile, 80/20 frame/rig to increase serviceability and make it easier to scale and modify as you kearn new stuff
Thanks you all for the great feedback and recommendations. I set up an inbox if you want to contact me directly regarding this project: rafik.photobioreactor@gmail.com
As for an interim update on this projects since I posted the video here is what I have accomplished:
1. I completed building a much larger 64L reactor that has improved on this design tremendously
2. I scrapped the old control system and am currently building on top of another project running on a raspberry pi (more details to come)
3. Implemented a software filter to clean up data and calculate growth rates
4. Built 2 custom optical density sensors based on absorbance and diffuse reflectance respectively
While I did promise in this video to release some subsequent videos detailing some additional details, I will not be doing that right now. I am currently focused on the new system's development and video production would take away from that at this time. Instead I will work on getting a second video out about my progress detailing some of the items listed above.
I am looking for others with the skills and experience to make the commercial system a reality so if you believe you can help in some capacity don't hesitate to contact me using the inbox above.
There is still lots to explore so your patience is appreciated, let me cook.
Hey Rafik,
Im also an engineer and am currently looking to do something similar.
You said something about a pump destroying the algea? Where did you read this? Im actually using a centrifugal pump without any issues?
Also we should really talk regarding the control setup. Ive been where you are with the esp and then the raspberry pi. But trust me thats so difficult and time consuming.
@@renederen2696 check out Handbook of Microalgal Culture by Amos Richmond, few references of research abt damage caused by centrifugal pumps stunting growth. I am very happy with my control system now. Shoot me an email ^
I like your project.
@@renederen2696⚠️ God has said in the Quran:
🔵 { O mankind, worship your Lord, who created you and those before you, that you may become righteous - ( 2:21 )
🔴 [He] who made for you the earth a bed [spread out] and the sky a ceiling and sent down from the sky, rain and brought forth thereby fruits as provision for you. So do not attribute to Allah equals while you know [that there is nothing similar to Him]. ( 2:22 )
🔵 And if you are in doubt about what We have sent down upon Our Servant [Muhammad], then produce a surah the like thereof and call upon your witnesses other than Allah, if you should be truthful. ( 2:23 )
🔴 But if you do not - and you will never be able to - then fear the Fire, whose fuel is men and stones, prepared for the disbelievers.( 2:24 )
🔵 And give good tidings to those who believe and do righteous deeds that they will have gardens [in Paradise] beneath which rivers flow. Whenever they are provided with a provision of fruit therefrom, they will say, "This is what we were provided with before." And it is given to them in likeness. And they will have therein purified spouses, and they will abide therein eternally. ( 2:25 )
⚠️ Quran
Turbidity sensors in industry tend to have debubblers and light excluders as well as a water jet or self cleaning setup. Would be happy to send you some beefier sensors that have that feature if you keep getting the sensor issues.
Thank you for the feedback. I dont know enough about these sensors yet. Would you be able to recommend a company or a model for these sensors I could look at.
Could you please loop me in on those sensors
I'm a microbiologist who runs a cultivation lab at PNNL. I think you did a great job on this.
Hi Eric, it's Colin. Good to see you here!
I don't know much of the PNNL, but do you think that you could grow shrimp in a large man made pool, feeding it phytoplankton that you've grown in a pool right next to it. Also perhaps growing seaweed as food for the plankton too? I wonder why no one has tried to do this in say Nevada, or something, just to try it out and see if they could get the cost low enough to compete with other shrimp operations?
Also do you know is there a better way to grow mushrooms, dehydrated them, grind them up, add water and put them into a mold to be able to replace styrofoam at a reasonable rate? Just seems we have the answers but big money, like Bill Gates doesn't want it to happen. The only thing I have seen him do to actually help the world or humanity is to try to build Small Modular Reactors with TerraPower. Cheers!
Please upload more! Currently, I'm a nuclear operator and don't have time to build this myself, but I'm extremely interested in doing so within a couple of years. Your progress and videos would be a wonderful reservoir of information for me to have at my disposal and I'd greatly appreciate it! Thank you so much for sharing your project!!! I've been ruminating on the idea of a large tank with LED lights inside of hollow tubes spaced a few inches apart so as to ensure even lighting in the medium. What do you think of it? Again, I don't have any practical experience with this, so take my idea with a grain of salt! Cannot wait to see more!
I have the same thought but it increase the electricity cost.... I have another idea if we put acrylic tube in the mixture (not hollow tube) and the outer surface is diffued, apply led or light source from the tip of that acrylic tube, by this way it will illuminate like a tube light in water. By this way we can save electricity cost...
I don't know if it will work or not but just have a thought.
Nuke?
@@d3vitron779 Yeah lol
Agreed. I think the idea of circular farming/ag systems are great and are likely underutilized in our world. I wonder if you could have a land locked shrimp farm, that has a +2 large swimming pool sized pools for the shrimp, and another food pool full of phytoplankton and seaweed. Grow the phytoplankton to feed to the shrimp. This would allow a much more controlled growing, but it would also make it so the producers of the food could add vitamins and minerals to the shrimp more easily. I don't know, just a thought.
Amazing step by step explanation of the process, including potential faults! Keep up the great work!
Major kudos for putting in the effort to keep things simple, affordable, and scientifically rigorous. A modular system like this could be scaled up for everything from homes to skyscrapers to space stations.
Can you uploud your cad models? Love the video
This is great work from someone with professional problem solving skills. Hopefully the algorithm picks up on you soon. Nice job.
I love how you've overcome some of the engineering obstacles associated with a project like this.
For a bacterial and fungal contamination check, I think your best bet is a microbiological approach with agar plates and plate streaking looking for colony growth. I don't think it's something you yourself would need to do because it takes a handful of dedicated equipment- incubator, agar, Luria broth, plates.
Your closed system allows for a high degree of control of input, which is great for sterility. You might consider experimenting with UV irradiation of input fluid.
The topic is very clearly explained and the video is organized well and easy to follow. Great work! Waiting for V2.
Amazing! Would love to see updates as you learn and discover new things!
The main issue that Techno-Economists face is the fact that emerging technologies in this field are literally batting against a Market Failure when it comes to competing against polluting, Fossil fueled industries.
The fact that producing and releasing harmful chemicals is an External Cost not factored into production means that emerging technologies will be at an economic disadvantage.
Pricing emissions correctly and policing it strictly will lead to such a technological leap, when things like Algae, Yeast, and Vat-Production becomes more economically viable.
Hats off to all the researchers and scientists laying the groundwork for this technology. The future is relying on this kind of good work.
Excellent project! Very interesting topic with a well executed inexpensive construction.
Consider the following in no particular order:
- Use socket head cap screws instead of philips head
- Increase o-ring cross section diameter and possibly reduce durometer
- Increase cap to pipe clearance
- Add drain valve to bottom coupling
- For finer more well distributed bubbles; increase pump pressure and decrease
orifice size in coupler
- +1 to RedMavis on the reflective wrap around the LEDs
- Space the diode strip away from the pipe surface a little
- Record temperature in reactor
- Integrate sampling and dilution ports into coupling
- Orient the turbidity sensor vertically at the bottom of a small free surface reservoir with a removable cap
This will facilitate easy cleaning of the turbidity sensor with a pipe brush
- Use a tee instead of an elbow above the LEDs for cleaning access
Again, excellent work! Let us know how quickly the system fouls.
Rock on!
Thanks for all the great recommendations. I'm already working on a couple of these. In terms of fouling system is still running with minimal fouling on the elbows (they are quite sharp turns) and I switched the flow direction by swapping the airflow. Seems like the straight pipes are still clean.
Nice thing about algae, you don't have to worry about over-watering it.
Super cool! Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to your next update!
this guy sacrified showering just to show us this awesome rig. I salute you.
Fantastic video! Growing algae is such an innovative and sustainable way to contribute to our environment. I loved the step-by-step process you shared here; it's both informative and inspiring. Keep up the great work! 🌿💧 #Sustainability #AlgaeGrowth
Really looking forward to a version 2 of this. I'd love to experiment with a similar setup, and i think using your design as a basis would be amazing.
This is such a good design! Especially the fact that you can monitor and control it remotely. I'm very impressed. Keep it up!
2:45 Interestingly, for “Hydrothermal Liquifaction” (HTL) doesn’t need the drying step and makes a near drop-in replacement for Crude Oil. All you need is basically a lab grade pressure cooker type thing and catalysts if I understand correctly. Granted tuning it is a whole other beast.
I have read that salt and iron may cause issues, but “desalters” and “hydro-demetalization” are common units in crude oil processing. And what would be extracted is a lot less nasty than the contaminants in crude oil!
Other processes to look into would be Supercritical Water Gasification, and Entrained Flow Gasification, both of which use slurries if i remember correctly.
(Or Hydrothermal Carbonization if you love coal enough to make it instead of Oil)
(Edit: Typo Fix)
Nice work. Couple of moments regarding design of this system.
Usially problem with low speed in down part of the loop is solved with high airflow(up to ~0,5 volume of air per volume of system per minute) and/or having down tube of smaller diameter than up tube.
While your solution solves problem with algae buildup it further reduces efficiency of water circulation, as main driving force is density differential between up/down parts of the loop and usually you want to have down part with as little air bubbles as possible.
Hi. The video was great! Have you considered that the walls of the tubes, being made of plastic, might become opaque over time and reduce light intake? My next question is, how many grams of dried product did you obtain from this 64-liter system?
Great video Rafik! Seeing the iterations in design was my favorite part throughout this project. Keep up the diligent work!
I can’t wait for version 2. Great job.
;p
Great video. I'd love to see one on your progress over the last 11 months.
Cool project. I will be looking forward to the next step.
Epic project with some very interesting implications! Amazing work and a great video
I am very fascinated by algae because I want to make biofuel like diesel and gasoline so I can an be independent farmer and save money. Thank you for this video :3. I was unable to find info for homemade biofuel from algae on most common online forums so this video was kinda helpful for that too.
It is really very interesting what you have taught me. Applause!! Brilliant!!
very impressed please make more like this!!!!
Great contribution, wish I had more to offer than support but am seriously looking forward to your next instalment. Keep up the great work and I hope you achieve optimum!
Interesting project thanks for putting all the work in. Would the pipe degrade over time (as it is plastic) affecting the algae, especially with the led strip around it ?
@atom6_ i mean its meant to be a prototype and beleive it or not its still running
Thanks for this video. This is really interesting. Please post continuations and details.
Excellent travail ! Une telle simplicité et efficacité est la preuve d'une grande intelligence ! Bravo !
Pour automatiser le nettoyage, il est possible de mettre des petites billes de plastique dans la culture 😉
idée intéressante, tu as essayé ?
In time I think this may be what I want to do. You did a good job making that all yourself. I wish I could do all that to prove its functionality before implementing in the community. Algae can also be used for bio plastics, it may also be the most powerful co2 capture as a plant based solution. 👍
Curious do you think there is a way to build a land locked shrimp farm, that would eat phytoplankton or regular plankton, that could be grown in a circular farming system? Perhaps include some seaweed if need be to help the cycle too? To have a closed loop system, adding only the minimum necessary for the system to survive. Thanks for the hard work and demonstration in the video.
wrap the led side in mylar or other high reflectivity material to contain the light inside the reactor and increase efficiency?
My comments were deleted by UA-cam! Uggg, Great project, I worry about the use of the roller pump killing or damaging the organism each time it samples. Having built a bioreactor in the past your approach is a solid one. Look forward to seeing more!
Thanks for the feedback! I chose the peristaltic/roller pump as a lesser evil compared to a pump with an impellor. The good news is that the contact area between the bearings and the housing is small compared to the volume moved so damage should be minimal. At this point, I'd rather have the sensor built in to the system to remove the sampling requirement all together but that would come with its own set of challenges
Subscribed. Looking forward to updates!
Best video about pbr systems I've seen
I'd love to see any updates you have on v2 or what purpose you are putting the algae to
Now if you used electrochemical plates to separate co2 from the air and contain it for use in the photo bioreactor. It may produce faster and greater yields.
Interesting...electro chemical plates...pls explain how they would work.
Awesome project. Congratulations & good luck.
Thanks for sharing.
Super interesting! Thanks for sharing Rafik
I look forward to seeing the coding side of the project and the next steps you take. I plan on building a small system to grow feed for animals, which could be an automated section that presses the algae into pellets.
I would consider wrapping mylar around the lights. Maybe try a symbiotic system with the O2 being generated. Feed the escape values to a room underneath where you grow some mushrooms. Put air intake in that room.
Dude sacrifices his shower for science, nice.
Very interesting. Any updates on this a near year later?
Awesome, keep it up!
For a bigger better clear tubes, look for replacement quarts tubes used in outdoor propane heaters. They’re 4-5” diameter, around 60” long and reasonable price.
Consider using sunlight to feed the energy during the day, the intensity will be waaay higher than the led strip. You could use reflective Mylar film to form a ‘solar oven’ parabolic shape, on the side opposite the sun, so increase the intensity further, and hit all sides of the tube evenly.
Hey man thanks for the video. Please upload more videos 💪
This project is awesome, Rafik.
Keep the algae content coming!! 💚
Great video, keep up the good work.
This is an incredible project! Excellent work!
What about running a longer loop? Something that snakes up and down. How are you processing the collected algae?
A density monitor that self-cleaned, and ideally didn't need to remove algae from the grow chamber, would be an excellent next step.
Also, we really need to grow spirulina on carbon from the atmosphere, not from dissolved minerals in the grow medium. I've seen references to growing it in lye solution, which alkalinises the medium without adding carbonate, but I haven't been able to find any reports of how well this works. Thoughts?
You have any updates to the project, you have peaked my curiosity.
Great idea as well as the video itself!
Would love to see more.
What if I would like to follow the project and build something similar, are you willing to open source the project?
Thanks for sharing ❤️This was in depth and informative ❤ Looking to grow food to my fish hobby.
Algae-daphnia-fish or algae-brine shrimp-
fish.
Hey, interesting project, would like to create something like that myself. Thanks for sharing and the data you gathered, am looking forward for an update!
I just found thus video. Very cool. Are there any updates? When I put pipes with o-rings together for a water tight seal, I normally add vasoline to the washers. It keeps them plyable and also helps the seal due to its density and it doesn't like to mix with water. I like the design. What are your plans with the collected biomass? Thanks
Great video and project
This is awesome, well done! I wonder what kind of further growth you could get by injecting CO2 instead of just outside air? It would be interesting to look at that concentration in the air before on injection and after it bubbles out.
You could occasionally run some distilled water through the turbidity sensor to detect when it’s contaminated.
Perhaps you could introduce clean water into the system through the sensor, and measure at the same time?
Очень интересная конструкция! Как на счет того чтобы выложить 3D моделей на thingiverse? И что это за интересные прозрачные трубки для вентиляции?? Я в наших магазинах встречал только непрозрачные белые.
Great project well explained. One thing about purity checking under the microscope: you can see the fairly big algae but it may be difficult to spot bacteria. If you stay with the microscope there is a technique called "oil immersion" to increase the resolution. Also the samples can be dried and stained. Not sure what specific species of bacteria survive at pH 10, but I am sure unless Spirulina produces some bacteriostatic compounds you should find some. Other than that what needs to be investigated are cyanobacteria with a potential to produce toxins.
Absolutely brilliant. I'm really looking forward to the next episode. I once found a large string of algae that had grown in the light of a water treatment turbidimeter, so it seems almost inevitable that you're going to have false positives with external turbidimeters here. Perhaps you could find a frequency that can't be used for photosynthesis..?
Thank you! I agree that external monitoring isn't ideal. Working on integrating it into the reactor. Turbidity meter uses infrared light. Fouling will occur regardless of growth. I am following along on the amybo project as well.
What about fiber optics inside larger vessels.
The fibers would move around from the water currents, you get some decent light distribution.
Ive used a system called dosatron for hydroponic inline automatic feeding and ph adjustments.
The side emission fiber optic ive used before was called light pipe by 3m.
Could you just measure density from observing the tube outside rather than a sensor that fights biofilms.
Very increadible work!
Could you make a reactor out of sheets of plastic where the liquid is held by capillary action between the sheets?
If you wrap the lights with aluminum foil, you will reflect a massive amount of more light.
You can wrap tight or loose.
If you put a hoop around it and wrap the foil around that, you can run a small fan in the gap, to keep the LEDs cooler, so that they last longer.
very cool, I am interested to see more.
Im incredibly interested in making these so thank you for posting your results
Fantastic video, keep up with the good work!
Not a lot of views (yet) so i feel obliged to comment:
very nice project! Clearly explained.
Interested to see how you will do the self cleaning, does that also include the light absorbing sensor?
Brainstormed some ideas for self-cleaning. The benefit of this system is if you get the airflow and geometry right to maintain constant flow, it prevents most build-up. The sensor cleaning is at the top of the list right now as it is a single point of vulnerability
What is the production rate on this system? How many grams per month can you produce?
Really cool project. I need to find some of this clear vacuum pipe!
Edit: They are sold at Home Depot, I had no idea.
awesome work am super interested in this and have been wanting to build one for ages love all the data you collected. keep it up!
This is dope, congrats on the bioreactpr
We need more videos sir keep going !
Hello máster.Another microalgae such as tetraselmis or chaetoceros where you use a small CO2 tank. You are fantastic at explaining
VERY COOL RAFFY. I like that.
you could put the pump above the water to prevent back flow.
Hello Rafik Nassif, this is Aaryan. I was instructed to make a project based on the topic Algae Biofuel Reactor. I surfed and found your video! Everything you explained was ok, I understood it well except for a few things. Sorry as I'm a school student and haven't researched well in this topic's field, henceforth I wasn't able to understand some topics. Firstly, *how and from where the algae will be extracted?* Are there any other methods or any substitutes for the couplers, as I can't make print it 3 dimensionally?
Hopes for a faster reply!
We need an update on how it's going!
I like your electric installation in the shower... :D
Jokes aside well planned and looks like a very cool project!
amazing video. thanks for putting this together. this is inspiring.
Cool project and you can use Taguchi array to test 2 ideas at once!
Hey Rafik, I have watched this a few times now. Well done. I want to print the whole thing. what kind of filament did you use? Also are you interested in sharing your designs... I do not have a background in engineering. Thanks
Dude! This is awesome! I think that you should patent this thing!❤😊
Amazing work!
Great video. Where abouts are you located? I would love to discuss this more with you.
Thank you. You can reach out via email in pinned comment
Hey,i would love to reach out to you and learn more about it for a school project
cool project I made a video about a bioreactor I build last year using a big pvc bag. I like your pipe design more it looks better
Check out the OMEGA project by NASA from 2010. It was an offshore algae growing project.
so how many grams of algae desit makeper day or per week?
Absolutely fantastic.
Cool project!
When the algae are mature and high in transglycerides, don't they want to float? If you have a Solid cad model, I can add a few cheap features to help with harvesting and anti-fouling. Basically add two "T' sections at the tops of each vertical leg. One to collect concentrated, mature algae-- can also insert 3d printed anti-fouling spiral auger squeegees that can be automated.
Also, I can model in a mobile, 80/20 frame/rig to increase serviceability and make it easier to scale and modify as you kearn new stuff
You can change more variables at the same time, there is an entire field about efficient testing