Micro-environment Establishment for Promoting Diverse Algal Growth

Abstract

Algae offer sustainable sources for water, food, and energy production. They can remove pollutants and pathogens from wastewater and provide potable water. Also they can also be used in creating dietary supplements, functional foods, and biofuels. An optimal micro-environment is essential to promote their growth and productivity in specific applications, and for this purpose it is important to take various physical factors such as light, temperature, hydrodynamics, agitation, and shear stress and chemical factors such as nutrients, pH, and dissolved oxygen into consideration. These factors affect algae growth and productivity, both on their own and by a combinational affect. It is important to properly monitor and manage these factors to ensure optimal algae growth and productivity. This chapter provides an overview of physical and chemical factors that influence growth of algae, empha-sizing the importance of micro-environment management in promoting sustainable algae-based industries. It also includes the strategies that can be applied for this purpose, which covers the cultivation techniques and methods to manage cultivation microenvironment in terms of pH, nutrients, and dissolved oxygen. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2024.