Algot is a remotely controlled surveillance robot intended for cultivations of microalgae and other types of cultivation or waters where microbes thrive. In this robot, the sensors are positioned directly into the water and has to be calibrated and cleaned manually.
Algot has been demonstrated at a pilot plant for microalgae cultivation at the lead smelter of Boliden in Landskrona, Sweden. The 3-year long project was supported by the Swedish Energy Agency. The robot measured pH and temperature in the 10 cubic meter sized cultivars. Remotely, we could follow the process and check that everything worked correctly, for example that the cultivations was supplied with enough carbon dioxide from the chimney of the factory.
The results were very good. We could confirm that the algae grew well with filtered flue gas from the factory. The phosphate in the growth medium contributed to capture of traces of lead falling to the bottom, while the algae could continue to grow higher up in the water column.
The sedimented lead phosphate mixed with sedimented microalgae represented an energy rich biomass that can be incinerated for recirculation of both energy and lead that was not captured in the flue gas cleaning directly at the chimney.
Read more about algae cultivation i bioreactors here:
https://industridoktorn.se/en/bioreactor-cultivation/
StromTech Sweden AB is the company behind the robots, read more here: https://stromtech.se/en/home/