Algae Bioreactor Review

Nova Harvest Ltd. is a shellfish hatchery located in Bamfield, British Columbia, Canda, growing oyster and geoduck seed. We use two of Industrial Plankton’s PBR-1000s as a component of our algae culture systems to grow clean, high density feed for larvae and broodstock. The customizable features of the reactor, including pH, light and nutrient levels, allow us to grow a wide range of species to meet the dietary needs of our animals with minimal labour being a significant advantage for our small team. We have yet to experience an aquaculture algae strain that we could not successfully culture using the PBR-1000.

A great aspect of this technology is the real time data generated, for example, growth rate of cells, pH dosing, temperature or harvest frequency all which allow us to adjust parameters as needed to maintain an efficient culture. Other traditional algae culturing methods do not allow us to monitor these metrics or have such significant control over the culture environment, which we find greatly improves our output. The reactors allow us to respond to a culture instantly, maximizing growth rate and harvesting at the optimal time. The operating system is user friendly, and culture change-overs are quick due to the internal pressure washer head that is able to clean the tank.

A full reactor changeover takes about 2 hours for take down, cleaning, sterilization and inoculation but only requires about 10 minutes of actual labour with the automated features taking care of the rest. We are very pleased with the performance of the PBR-1000 and will be adding new units in the near future to expand out algae production capacity.

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Article by Kate Rolheiser, Operations Director & Phycologist at Nova Harvest Ltd.