Evaluation of Real-Time Monitoring on the Growth of Spirulina Microalgae: Internet of Things and Microalgae Technologies

Microalgae farming is still in its infancy phase to implement internet-of-things (IoT) technologies. Spirulina microalgae was selected to be investigated in this study because it is the most commercially viable microalgae for large-scale production. There are various methods to measure the biomass concentration of microalgae. However, the conventional methods are time-consuming, laborious, or expensive. Therefore, this research aims to integrate IoT with a biomass concentration sensor (TCS3200), to monitor the biomass concentration of Spirulina in real-time and remotely through the cloud-based system (ThingSpeak). The TCS3200 sensor was programmed and set up to measure the absorbance of the Spirulina culture in a 10-L cultivation tank. The data was collected and stored in the cloud Thingspeak platform. Besides, additional parameters such as temperature, light intensity, and water level were monitored to gain a comprehensive understanding of the entire cultivation process. These sensors were all controlled by a Lolin NodeMCU ESP8266 microcontroller. The TCS3200 sensor was found to be better suited for measuring low biomass concentrations, while a UV-Vis spectrophotometer was able to measure higher biomass concentrations after the sample was diluted. Real-time monitoring of these parameters allows for timely adjustments to be made to the cultivation conditions to optimize the growth and productivity of the Spirulina culture and detect any problems or abnormalities in the process. The use of IoT technologies in the cultivation of microalgae can improve the efficiency and sustainability of the process and provide valuable data for further research and development.