Photodynamic control of contaminating micro-organisms in photobioreactors

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Algae hold great promise as the source of a wide range of industrial feedstocks ranging from plastics and biofuels to nutraceuticals, pigments and pharmaceuticals. Production costs, however, remain a barrier to algae reaching their potential as industrial feedstocks. One problem is contamination of algal cultures by other micro-organisms which outcompete the algae or are pathogenic. Disinfection controls are often expensive, impractical at scale or ineffective. This project takes the innovative approach of investigating the possibility of photodynamic control of contaminant micro-organisms. The use of light to control unwanted micro-organisms is not new but developments in LED and photonic technologies mean that new approaches can be made to the design of photobioreactors that will make them better at dealing with contaminating micro-organisms while being cheaper to build and operate. Success in the project will give Xanthella considerable competitive advantage in the design of photobioreactors or research and industrial production of algae leading to increased sales and exports.