Fluid-dynamic characterization of real-scale raceway reactors for microalgae production

•Power consumption due to accessories can limit the use of raceway reactors for energy purposes.•Use of baffle to enhance mass transfer dramatically increases the power consumption in this type of photobioreactors.•High mixing time, in the order of hours, in raceway reactors limits the operation mode of these systems.

The fluid dynamic characterization of a 100 m length × 1 m wide channel raceway photobioreactor was carried out. The effects of water depth, liquid velocity and the presence, or absence, of sump baffles to improve the CO2 supply transfer were considered in relation to on the power consumption, residence time and mixing in the reactor was studied. When operated at a depth of 20 cm, the power consumption was between 1.5 and 8.4 W m−3 depending on the forward velocity, with higher values occurring when the baffle was in place. Residence times and the degree of mixing at each section of the raceway (paddlewheel, bends, channels and sump) were measured experimentally. Mixing occurred mainly in the sump, paddlewheel and bends, with a maximum dispersion coefficient of 0.07 m2 s−1. These sections, however, only contributed a small fraction to the total volume of the raceway. Bodenstein numbers from 200 to 540 for the channel sections indicated plug-flow characteristics. Mixing times ranged from 1.4 to 6 h, with the presence of the baffle greatly increasing these times despite higher specific power consumption. A total of 15–20 circuits of the raceway were needed to achieve complete mixing without the baffle, compared to 30–40 cycles with the baffle. Vertical mixing was very poor whereas axial mixing was similar to that achieved in closed photobioreactors. The methodologies applied were shown to be useful in determining the fluid dynamics of a raceway photobioreactor. Equations useful in simulating the power consumption as a function of the design and operation parameters have been validated.