Technology

1. Design of the production system

The design of the racetrack-shaped pools currently used in all large installations
has several disadvantages:

It requires a large floor area.
The small size of the ponds increases their construction cost.
The high number of pools requires more equipment and manpower.

Our patented design makes it possible, for an equivalent production area, to reduce the number of basins and to reduce the floor area of installations by 25% compared to the system used in China.
It also allows better energy efficiency of hydraulic flows, especially during harvesting. It is estimated that 50% of the electrical energy of an installation is consumed during this operation, first to bring the culture medium to the place of harvest, then return it to the basins or the recycling system.
The cleaning of the basins is carried out by specifically designed tools, which allow a significant reduction in labor requirements.

2. Modularity of the installations

Our installations are made up of independent modules of identical surface.

This modularity allows construction and production to be started quickly and flexibly, suitable for needs
specific, and with lower investment and operating costs than competing sites.

3. Agitation of the ponds
The paddlewheel stirring system used in racetrack type pools consumes a large amount of energy compared to the mechanical action exerted.

Our patented agitation model enables more efficient and cost-effective pond agitation, with an energy saving of around 30%.

4. Culture medium management

Pond management includes many daily tasks. Various parameters must be measured and then analyzed. Depending on the results, inputs must be added in varying quantities and a modification of the production parameters must be made. Currently, much of this work is done manually.

Our system not only allows these different tasks to be managed automatically, but also to be carried out remotely. The data are first collected at regular intervals in the different basins, then transmitted for analysis. The modification of the production parameters and the addition of the various inputs can then be carried out on site or remotely, depending on the option chosen.
This automated management, as well as the pre-conditioning of inputs, significantly reduce the working time usually required for the daily management of the installations.

5. Recycling of culture medium
Whatever the production system used, all the basins must be regularly purged to renew the culture medium. During this operation, part of the medium is rejected outside the basin after harvesting.
Most of the time, the purge product is discharged. Many still useful elements are then permanently lost.

Our system provides for recycling of the purge product, which will not only save on inputs but also prevent environmental pollution.

6. Drying the product
The most commonly used drying system for spirulina is spray-dry. This system has two major flaws:

Partial deterioration of the product.
High operating costs, because this technology requires a skilled workforce to permanently manage these fragile and complex installations.

Our patented technology allows rapid drying at low temperature, which optimally preserves all the nutrients in spirulina.
It also allows a significant reduction in drying costs thanks to:

The simplicity of technology (reduction of management and maintenance costs).
In terms of investments, 3 times lower than for a spray-dry installation.

7. Genetic improvement of strains

At the heart of the production system is spirulina.

Its genome was sequenced in 2014 with the participation of Biorigin SA, the company behind AlgaProd.
Currently, spirulina strains have not been the subject of in-depth research to determine which are the most suitable for the different places of production: hygrometry, temperatures, temperature variations, sunshine, etc.

Thanks to our laboratory, we can select, for a given environment, the most appropriate strains according to their productivity, resistance and input requirements.

We can already offer our customers natural strains resulting from objective selections .
We will soon be able to offer them strains resulting from the cloning of induced variants.