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Case Story: ecoduna AG uses 230 km glass tubes from SCHOTT in their photobioreactor
ecoduna AG has developed a particularly efficient algae cultivation technology. It is used in Europe’s largest photobioreactor that cultivates algae from which omega-3 fatty acids are produced.
What is special about the design of the ecoduna photobioreactor: the algae flows vertically through the PBR rather than the more usual horizontal format. This is an important factor in why this photobioreactor is so efficient.
In the pilot plant, ecoduna initially opted for plastic containers for the algae cultivation solution, however this led to various problems. For this reason, ecoduna decided to replace the plastic components with glass tubes from SCHOTT. This enabled ecoduna to achieve its design targets.
The design of the pilot plant was then used as a template for the actual production plant: 43,000 DURAN® glass tubes are used in this production plant. That totals a length of 230 km. The complete system has a photoactive volume of 780,000 liters. This allows ecoduna to produce 100 metric tons of dry biomass per year, making it the largest producer of algae-based omega-3 fatty acids in Europe.
Read the full ecoduna case story, there you will find out more details on the following questions:
- Why is the vertical design of ecoduna’s photobioreactor more productive?
- What problems did you encounter with the plastic containers that you initially used?
- Why was it possible to switch from plastic to SCHOTT glass within 18 months?
- How did SCHOTT’s system solution of matched pipes, pipe connectors and manifolds make the changeover particularly easy?
- Why is the new solution with glass tubing much more sustainable than the old solution with plastic components?
- Why has ecoduna been able to increase productivity and reduce costs at the same time by using glass tubes from SCHOTT?
You can find out the details in the complete case story (with video interview): Case Story – Higher productivity with SCHOTT
