Several types of bioreactors have been used for hydrogen production via water biophotolysis (direct and indirect). These reactors require adequate entry of light,
which could be sunlight or another artificial light, such as red light. To maximize the area of incident light, which allows high cell growth and hydrogen production, the reactor design should provide a high surface-to-volume ratio. In addition, it should allow sterilization and easy handling. Furthermore, the photobioreactor should be an enclosed system so that the produced hydrogen could be collected without any losses. Photobioreactors can be mainly divided into three types: vertical column reactor, tubular type and flat panel photobioreactor. A summary of bioreactor types and their properties is provided in Table 13.2 (Dutta et al., 2005).