The strain of microalgae considered for the design is P. tricornutum, which is a type of marine algae from the class Bacillariophyceae [31]. Figure 2 shows the proximate biochemical composition of P tricornutum. The design basis for the cultivation sys­tem is 50,000 tonnes of dry biomass per year. The cultivation system will operate 330 days per year with the number of batches dependent on the type of cultivation

system employed, as well as the specific yields and productivities. Seawater is used as the major source of water due to the marine nature of the algal specie. The life span of the plant is fixed at 10 years. It is assumed that 80% of the biomass is removed from the cultivation system at the end of each batch. After 330 days of cultivation, the facility will shutdown for major maintenance. Dominant strains of algae and unwanted parasites can often enter the reactor and destroy the culture [5]; thus it is pivotal that the cultivation system is shutdown for scheduled maintenance periodically. The cultivation system will rely on carbon dioxide from a power sta­tion, and this will be the only source of carbon dioxide for photosynthesis. The car­bon dioxide from the power station is assumed as a mixture with compressed air such that the mass fraction of carbon dioxide entering the cultivation system is 10%.