This paper undertakes the description and assessment of various solutions applied for the design of photobioreactors as the type of apparatus, which can provide high output of green algae biomass. The design of such apparatus plays an important role in the context of the concurrent fulfillment of ecological and economic requirements, which are necessary to conduct an efficient and effective technology using cheap and easily accessible resources to produce different goods. Nowadays, algae is seen as one of the most promising sustainable way to produce energy in the future (biofuels, electricity, thermal energy) but technologies of biomass production and processing are still under development particularly to increase biomass and energy output. The cultivation costs in closed systems are still high, limiting their commercial applications to high-valued compounds but they can be reduced by efficient bioreactor designs, which are able to achieve high areal biomass productivities. This paper focuses on the advantages and drawbacks associated with the application of the particular types of bioreactors in algae production, description of their operation parameters and area for practical application, pointing of the constructions (tubular, flat panel, bubble column) that can contribute to improvement the profitability of large-scale production.

The use of algae is gaining popularity in recent years. Algae can form a suitable substrate for biogas production because they are low in cellulose and have low lignin content. The paper contains a summary with the list of the algae species applied for the biogas production process to this date, coupled with the description of the characteristic conditions in which the process is conducted. The key importance factors during the production of biogas include, among others, grade of algae species used, temperature of the process, mode in which the material is supplied into the tank, mixing method, use of co-substrate, etc. This paper reports the results of the study involving the effect of various temperature conditions on the characteristics of the growth rate of algal biomass. The research was performed for the Chlorella vulgaris BA-0167 strain in the temperature range corresponding to the mesophilic fermentation processes in anaerobic conditions.