Study on modelling microalgae growth in nitrogen-limited culture system for estimating biomass productivity

Microalgae are considered as a promising biofuel resource to fix carbon dioxide (CO2) in the future. Modelling microalgae growth is an effective method of studying the performance of microalgae growth manifested by the parameters including light distribution, pigment dynamics, nitrogen uptake, growth rate, respiration rate, temperature dependence, and depth dependence, and helping to control the culture of microalgae in artificial bioreactors. In this paper, the models of microalgae growth in nitrogen-limited and light-limited culture system for estimating biomass productivity are investigated by comparing different expressions and coefficients used in several main models. The results show that there are some differences among the results of numerical modelling due to different expressions and coefficients. This paper will lay a foundation for the selective use of microalgae growth models for researchers.