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The Importance of (pH)ycology
By Ally Sheller
Phycology often gets confused as a misspelling of Psychology, but what it really is is the study of algae, from the ancient Greek word phykos, meaning seaweed. An important part of phycology is understanding the conditions algae grow best in, information which we are using to design our bioreactor as an ideal environment for algae growth.
A significant factor in creating this ideal environment is pH. The many different species of algae have different preferences, with most having an optimal pH around 7. Our algae however, prefer a fairly alkaline solution - the optimal pH for Spirulina and Chlorella is 9.0-10.0 (but not above 10.5). The reason pH is so important is that it influences how easily the algae cells can take up nutrients and how well cell components function due to accumulation of nitrites.
As the algae grow they naturally raise the pH of the feedstock through photosynthesis and CO2 stripping. Because we don't have the means to consistently control the pH, we have opted to begin the experiment with a more neutral pH and as it continues the algae should naturally increase in efficiency without getting so alkaline that they denature their enzymes and stop functioning.
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