Class
Article
College
College of Engineering
Department
Biological Engineering Department
Faculty Mentor
Ronald Sims
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Abstract
Research into more environmentally friendly and biologically based products is a rapidly growing field of study. Often, these systems require careful monitoring in order to maximize production and efficiency. This type of research also demands that lab models must later be scaled up to production size, this process often leads to an increase in cost because different equipment is required to monitor benchtop scale lab models than what is required for use in production scale systems. A Raspberry Pi, which is a low cost, single board computer, provides a perfect, cost effective solution to scaling up and easy monitoring. Multiple sensors including temperature, pressure, and humidity can easily be attached to the Raspberry Pi to monitor the system and atmosphere in a variety of conditions. As the Raspberry Pi is small and can be easily optimized to fill various roles, it can be used in different scale models and adapted to different sensors when needed. In this experiment, temperature, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), and atmospheric conditions in Rotating Algal Biofilm Reactors (RABRs) were monitored to see what effect they have on algae growth. Gathered experimental data clearly indicates that algal growth increased with light and temperature. Using this information, harvest rates can be optimized and further monitoring can accurately predict growth in different seasons and conditions. Through continued use of Raspberry Pi based systems, effective and low cost monitoring can be implemented to help refine the bioprocessing industry’s model and maximize production of algae based products. Presentation Time: Wednesday, 2-3 p.m.
Location
Logan, UT
Start Date
4-11-2021 12:00 AM
Included in
Low Cost, Accurate System for the Monitoring of Rotating Algal Biofilm Reactors With Raspberry Pi
Logan, UT
Research into more environmentally friendly and biologically based products is a rapidly growing field of study. Often, these systems require careful monitoring in order to maximize production and efficiency. This type of research also demands that lab models must later be scaled up to production size, this process often leads to an increase in cost because different equipment is required to monitor benchtop scale lab models than what is required for use in production scale systems. A Raspberry Pi, which is a low cost, single board computer, provides a perfect, cost effective solution to scaling up and easy monitoring. Multiple sensors including temperature, pressure, and humidity can easily be attached to the Raspberry Pi to monitor the system and atmosphere in a variety of conditions. As the Raspberry Pi is small and can be easily optimized to fill various roles, it can be used in different scale models and adapted to different sensors when needed. In this experiment, temperature, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), and atmospheric conditions in Rotating Algal Biofilm Reactors (RABRs) were monitored to see what effect they have on algae growth. Gathered experimental data clearly indicates that algal growth increased with light and temperature. Using this information, harvest rates can be optimized and further monitoring can accurately predict growth in different seasons and conditions. Through continued use of Raspberry Pi based systems, effective and low cost monitoring can be implemented to help refine the bioprocessing industry’s model and maximize production of algae based products. Presentation Time: Wednesday, 2-3 p.m.