Table 1 Comparison of cost and efficiency of open ponds and bioreactors for microalgae cultivation
From: Allelopathy as a potential strategy to improve microalgae cultivation
Factors | Open ponds | Bioreactors |
|---|---|---|
Equipment | Low cost | High cost |
Investment | Low | High |
Operating Costs | Low | High |
Maintenance and control of temperature | No cost but difficult | Easy but costly |
Scaling up | Easy | Difficult |
Agitation of large volumes of algae | Difficult, low uniformity, and low cost | Easy, high uniformity, and high cost |
Evaporation of culture medium | High | Low |
Risk of contamination | High | Reduced |
Control of contamination | Difficult | Easy |
Control of species | Difficult | Easy |
Microalgae stress | Low | High |
Maintenance and cleaning of the system | Easy | Difficult |
Productivity | Low | High |