Algae as a turbocharger

They are teeny tiny but they have enormous strength: microalgae are considered a sustainable raw material and energy supplier of the future. In photobioreactors made of glass tubing, the microscopic organisms can grow to incredible sizes, thanks to optimal light penetration and protection from impurities and contamination.

Challenge

Microalgae are in fact truly multi-talented. Their metabolic products are used as ingredient supplements, for human food and animal feed, impart medications and cosmetic properties and can even be used to clean up wastewater. Because algae uses light as an energy source and converts carbon dioxide through photosynthesis, they form a biomass. This process is five times more efficient than that of terrestrial plants.

A market with a bright future

This biomass is primarily of interest from an industrial point of view because of the proteins, lipids, pigments, antioxidants, acids, and several other valuable elements within them. There are over a hundred thousand types of algae that have been identified to date, but only about two dozen are used today in industrial cultivation.
And that is precisely the beauty of it.

Innovation

Many ways to harvest algae

Cultivating them in open ponds seems to offer a promising amount of masses. However, it leaves the micro-organisms exposed to elements with no protection. In contrast, when algae are contained in closed photobioreactors, they are protected. This is where systems made of DURAN® glass tubing are better suited because they are more stable and easier to clean than plastic tubing. They bring the light algae needs to achieve optimal growth.

A 7-day harvest cycle

Algae needs (sun)light, carbon dioxide and nutrients to grow. Photobioreactors provide the optimal conditions. In closed DURAN® systems it takes only seven days to harvest. This kind of yield has even the experts in awe.

CO₂

Carbon dioxide

Sunlight

O₂

Oxygen

Biomass

Algae need (sun) light, carbon dioxide and nutrients to grow. Photobioreactors provide the optimal conditions.

Let SCHOTT help you achieve the perfect environment for new algae wonders.

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Real digital

Enriching our perception of real life informatively yet imaginatively is what augmented reality – or simply AR – promises us. The range of potential applications is practically unlimited! But first a look at how specialty glass perfectly fuses reality and digital worlds into one.

Superior Sensing

Self-driving cars that brake when it is too close to the vehicle in front. High tech cameras that monitor environments inhospitable to humans. Drones that track crops and measure pollution. Technology and SCHOTT´s latest IR glasses are helping us see what human eyes can’t.

Mitigating the risk of cross-contamination

The medical industry has extremely high safety and hygiene standards. As such, medical devices must be autoclaved to prevent risk of cross contamination after contact with the human body. This creates a need for using components in medical devices made from specialty glass, ceramics, and metal that can withstand the harsh sterilization process.

Technology meets aesthetics

Researchers on the TU Delft campus have built a bridge out of glass tubes from SCHOTT.

As clear as water

Water is a scarce resource. And the technologies to clean water in a sustainable way and to reduce users’ footprint are extremely important. Tiny algae are the ones to provide a really environmentally-friendly solution.

From waste to value

CLEARAS Water Recovery transforms waste to value through biological wastewater treatment.

Algae as a turbocharger