A low-cost system for monitoring pH, dissolved oxygen and algal density in continuous culture of microalgae

In a continuous and closed system of culturing microalgae, constantly monitoring and controlling pH, dissolved oxygen (DO) and microalgal density in the cultivation environment are paramount, which ultimately influence on the growth rate and quality of the microalgae products. Apart from the pH and DO parameters, the density of microalgae can be used to contemplate what light condition in the culture chamber is or when nutrients should be supplemented, which both also decide productivity of the cultivation. Moreover, the microalgal density is considered as an indicator indicating when the microalgae can be harvested. Therefore, this work proposes a low-cost monitoring equipment that can be employed to observe pH, DO and microalgal density over time in a culture environment. The measurements obtained by the proposed monitoring device can be utilized for not only real-time observations but also controlling other sub-systems in a continuous culture model including stirring, ventilating, nutrient supplying and harvesting, which leads to more efficiency in the microalgal production. More importantly, it is proposed to utilize the off-the-shelf materials to fabricate the equipment with a total cost of about 513 EUR, which makes it practical as well as widespread. The proposed monitoring apparatus was validated in a real-world closed system of cultivating a microalgae strain of Chlorella vulgaris. The obtained results indicate that the measurement accuracies are 0.3%, 3.8% and 8.6% for pH, DO and microalgae density quantities, respectively. © 2022 The Author(s

ELECTROSPRAY METHOD: PROCESSING PARAMETERS INFLUENCE ON MORPHOLOGY AND SIZE OF PCL PARTICLES

The polymeric microparticles using electrospray technique have been used effectively as the drug carrier, whereby controlled release of drug. The electrosprayed particles morphology and size dictated the degradation of polymer matrix, therefore they influenced the release profile from drug loaded microparticles. The effects of electrospray processing parameters (flow rate, applied voltage and distance from the tip of needle to collector) on morphology and size of polycaprolactone (PCL) particles were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and ImageJ software. In this research, the PCL solution was prepared by dissolving PCL in Dichloromethane at 4.5 % solution. In addition, processing parameters such as the flow rate (0.5 mL/h, 1 mL/h, 1.5 mL/h, 2 mL/h and 4 mL/h), the applied voltage (15 kV, 18 kV and 24 kV) and the collecting distance (15 cm, 20 cm, and 25 cm) were changed to examine the effects of them on size and morphology of PCL particles. The results indicated that at the suitable electrospraying parameters (18 kV, 1.5 mL/h, 20–25 cm), microparticles have obtained the uniform and stable morphology while at higher flow rate (2 mL/h and 4 mL/h), the particles were deformed and had bigger size.

TAYLOR CONE–JET MODE IN THE FABRICATION OF ELECTROSPRAYED MICROSPHERES

In this study, electrospray modes were investigated to clarify their effects on the morphology and size of polycaprolactone (PCL) particles. The result indicated that electrosprayed microspheres with homogeneous and stable morphology were fabricated by using cone–jet mode and suitable electrospray processing parameters. Besides, the PCL solution was created by dissolving in dichloromethane with different concentrations such as 3.5%, 4%, 4.5% and 5%. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs pointed that electrosprayed PCL microspheres were formed by using 4.5 % polymer solution. In addition, the reproducible and homogeneous morphology of PCL microparticles were obtained at the following set of parameters: applied voltage of 18 kV, flow rate of 1.5 mL/h and distance tip to collector of 20 cm. Moreover, at the collecting distance of 15–25 cm, the flow rate of 1.2–1.8 mL/h and applied voltage of 18 kV the cone–jet mode was generated. It was an effective electrospray mode to create stable and homogeneous microspheres