effect of light irradiance on growth and lipid content of microalgae chlorella vulgaris in a flat panel photobioreactor

Light has an incredible effect on microalgal growth, and the self-shading of microalgal cells reduces light penetration# in this study, chlorella vulgaris was cultivated in a flat panel pbr, and the effect of light path and biomass concentration (c= 0#142 - 1#7 g l-1) on light attenuation inside the pbr was investigated and discussed# the results showed that with an increase in biomass concentration, light intensity decreased sharply, especially in regions 2-4 cm from the light incident surface, which suggested that flat-panel pbrs be constructed with < 4 cm width# also, when biomass concentration was 1#7 g l-1, light intensity decreased 92% over the first 2 cm# however, when biomass concentration was 0#142 g l-1, light intensity only falls 57%# the optimum biomass concentration was 1 g l-1 to avoid having lower-than optimum light intensity inside the pbr and, also, to have the highest lipid production rate#