Some optimization problems in an algal raceway pond

Abstract

Microalgae are photosynthetic microorganisms whose potential has been highlighted in the last decade, especially for food, renewable energy and wastewater treatment. Nevertheless, finding optimal growth conditions for full-scale outdoor cultivation of microalgae remains challenging in practice. Mathematical models are therefore of great help to better manage this complex and dynamical system. The aim of this talk is to better understand how different factors such as the shape of topography and distribution of the light resource affect microalgae growth in raceway ponds. In a first part, I will show how the shape of the topography affects (or not) the algal growth. In this way, I will present a model which coupling the hydrodynamical movement with the photosynthesis system, then using this coupled model I will present the optimization problem associated with the topography to maximize the algal growth rate in different cases (volume constant or variable). The second part of the talk will mainly focus on a resource allocation problem where we use a mixing device to assign at each lap the light resource to the algae layers in the raceway. We provide a complete theory to analyse and determine the optimal allocation strategies to maximize the algal growth. Finally, I will end this talk with some numerical experiments and some perspectives of this work.

卢 柳 䃅

Postdoctoral Fellow in Applied Mathematics

My research interests include Numerical Analysis, Mathematical Biology, Scientific Computing, Optimization and Control.