Production facility planning of Haematococcus pluvialis Flotow microalgae and industrial astaxantine production

Haematococcus pluvialis (Flotow 1844) is a unicellular bi-flagellate green microalgae belonging to the class Chlorophyceae. The cells of H. pluvialis, which are in the green vegetative growth and development phase under appropriate reproductive conditions, undergo a morphological change under stress conditions and turn into red hematocystic form. In studies conducted to date, many aspects of H. pluvialis microalgae cultivation have been investigated. However, an industrial scale production and production facility planning study has not been carried out. In this study, it is aimed to investigate the suitable production conditions of H. pluvialis cultivation and to make a production plant plan. Thus, it is aimed to contribute to the planning of algae culture enterprises to be built in the future. The H. pluvialis culture used in this study was purchased from "Culture Collection Algae and Protozoa" (CCAP) SAMS Limited and reproduced in the laboratory environment. By increasing the volume, the last 160 lt green phase was produced. 160 lt of biomass obtained from the green phase was inoculated into 5 x 2 m long and 15 cm deep pools for red phase production. An industrial microalgae production facility was planned and produced with the phototrophic method and batch culture system. As a result of different productions, around 750-1250 g of dry matter was obtained. The astaxanthin content of the obtained dry matter was determined as 3.28 - 4.58 % by spectrophotometric methods.