The interest on microalgal cultures interest has been undergoing changes not only on their multiple applications, that go from water treatment, biofuels and bioproducts, nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, high value food supplements, animal feed, indicator organisms of environment health, cosmetics, agricultural amendments and many others. The fast-doubling rates of microalgae makes them prime candidates for biomass production for these applications. Nonetheless, the promise of microalgal biomass has not been fully realized, as most of the products targeted for these cultures are commodity products.
Screening for higher value products requires equipment that is not always available to producers and researchers, such as computerized bioreactors, spectrophotometers, flow cytometers and other equipment that is out of reach for many entities. Even in pond production, where the scale makes the operations less expensive for unit mass produced, monitoring equipment that can be transported to the field can be expensive.
In this work, we explored the use of technologies such as 3-D printers, consumer level microprocessors and low-cost fabrication to produce devices that will allow research, production and monitoring of microalgal cultures. With the 3D printing technology going down in cost continuously, and with freely available software to run the printers, developing and producing these devices is within the reach of any interest entity. Coupling 3D printing with low cost, consumer level electronic devices, from microprocessors, to fabrication parts, open the doors for worldwide distribution.
In this work, we will discuss the role of low-cost open hardware for algal culture and research, with some examples developed by our team, from handheld florescent monitoring systems, growth monitoring plates, self-powered lights, and other devices, to reduce the costs associated to microalgal research, monitoring and production. Through interdisciplinary partnerships, the development of these devices’ benefits form the feedback of different stakeholders. Some of these devices are being developed as open-source, and can be disseminated as fabrication files, accompanied by assembly and operation instructions. This strategy allows a wider distribution of the devices, and reduce the cost of disseminating the resulting products, by eliminating physical shipment of the devices.