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Automated harvesting works in two modes: continuous (flow-through) or semi-continuous (drop and top). In semi-continuous you can harvest on your schedule. Set the time and volume you’d like algae harvested and the PBR will dispense that volume using a metered peristaltic pump. In continuous mode you set the media inflow rate and the harvest will overflow the top of the algae bioreactor allowing you to continuously feed it out to your animals. The system does not separate the algae from the water (ie it does include a centrifuge or other dewatering device like that). If you need to remove the algae from the water you will need to set up a different process downstream. Learn more about automated scale-up and harvest here.

Samples can be collected anytime using the harvest (peristaltic) pump.

Water and nutrients are automatically added (either continuously or semi-continuously) to keep the algae growing up to harvest density and volume. This takes 7-10 days depending on the quality and strength of the inoculum. Learn more about automated scale-up and harvest here.

Ideally the supply water is filtered down to 1 µm nominal prior to reaching our equipment. This ensures good filter life on the equipment.

The equipment is turnkey, the only items you need to provide will be consumables, such as CO2, nutrients, and cleaning solution. And electrical outlets for the plugs.

All of this information can be found on the resources page under the “Installation Requirements” document for the specific PBR you’re interested in learning more about.

All of this information can be found on the resources page under the “Tech Specs and Components” document for the specific PBR you’re interested in learning more about. Learn how to find the weight and dimensions here. 

Temperature, pH, nutrient additions, lighting, and density, (through volume harvested and water added) can all be easily manipulated with the intuitive touchscreen controls.

All water entering our bioreactors passes through several levels of filtration. Water is first passes into our Header Prefiltration tank. Here water recirculates through a backflushable tangential flow filter (ultrafilter) which removes sub-micron particulate and then through a UV sterilizer. Once the water leaves the Header it goes to the PBR's control valves then finally through a 0.1 µm absolute capsule filter. This staged filtration ensures that water enters the bioreactor without contaminants. All air entering the reactor is also sub-micron filtered down to 0.2 µm absolute using autoclavable capsule filters.

Absolutely! But we are also happy to help and have optional in-person installation and training. Some customers choose to have one of our technicians on site help accelerate the installation and get it ready for phytoplankton faster. With PlanktonCare 2.0, we are also available to help with any installation questions through phone, video or email. More information here.

The PBR arrives in 4 components: water pre-treatment tank, the top light, temperature control unit and the algae culture chamber (photobioreactor) itself. Simply place and level the components, connect the water supply, interconnect the components disconnected for shipping, and plug it all in. It generally takes 3-4 hours to get it uncrated, leveled, and installed. We also offer an optional installation and training package. This includes a technician from Industrial Plankton visiting your facility, installing the equipment, and walking through algae culturing (from flask to the bioreactor's operation). This option is not required for clients who are already skilled algae technicians.

We recommend getting started cultures from a professional microalgal culture collection. A few of our favourite sources of starter algae are the Bigelow National Center for Marine Algae and Microbiota , NOAA’s Milford lab, and the UTEX culture collections. You may be able to source larger inoculum cultures locally from a University studying algae biotechnology or aquaculture, or other facilities such as shellfish hatcheries, nurseries, shrimp laboratories, shrimp hatcheries, or finfish hatcheries.