Bioethanol Production in Algal Bioreactors

Abstract

Microalgae are one of the main issues that scientists have been focusing on recently since the valuable compounds and metabolites they contain are used in industry, food, pharmacy, medicine, environmental engineering, and the energy industries. Downstream and upstream processing applications of algae cultures are important for obtaining high-value products. Bioethanol is a type of biofuel that can be obtained from microalgae as a result of sugar production and fermentation processes. The bioethanol process and content are affected by manipulations made in the fermentation process or the types of organisms that provide the fermentation. Furthermore, bioreactor design is an upstream process, and bioreactors are extremely crucial in growing microalgae for fuel production. There are many different sizes, shapes, and materials for bioreactors that can be used to grow microalgae. This study investigates experimental and theoretical bioethanol production from microalgae grown in various materials (glassware or polymeric materials) and bioreactor types (flat, glass bottle, column, loop, thin-film, helical, raceways, and bubble column photobioreactor). © 2025 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.