Augmentation of microalgae growth due to hydrodynamic activation

In order to elucidate the phenomenon of augmenting the photosynthesis by fluid motion, the photosynthetic rates in a culture of Chlorella of simple shear flow were measured with both short and long term experiments. In the short term experiments the oxygen production rate decrease with the increases of shear stress, however, the growth rate of Chlorella in the long term experiment is largely enhanced by the application of shear stress. This result indicates that the augmentation of microalgae growth was activated by shear flow, which may involve the adaptation process of microalgae to the external shear stimulus.