Delft Seminars on Building Technology Parabolic Algae Roof

The parabolic mirror supported tubular photobioreactor algae growing roof farm. 1353640, Anton Zoetmulder Tutor: Hans Voller

AR1A075 2012-Q1/2
mark

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Fig. 1.2

Fig.1.3

Fig. 1.1 Parabolic algae roof in summer situation, sun on 62 degrees (Source: own work). Fig. 1.2 Parabolic algae roof in winter situation, sun on 14 degrees (Source: own work). Fig. 1.3 Susan of the Google Sketch-Up team is maintaining the parabolic algae installation (Source: own work).

Parabolic algae roof.

The Parabolic mirror supported tubular photobioreactor algae growing roof farm
Anton Zoetmulder, 1353640

Amount of words: 3.586

1. Abstract
Algae grow 7 to 30 times faster than the next biomass creating crop and have huge potential in providing the world with energy. Algae need a few simple conditions to grow; sucient sunlight, owing water and nutrients. An additional advantage is that the algae consume a large fraction of CO2 while growing, thus cleaning the surrounding air. In this redesign I integrated a tubular photobioreactor for growing algae on the roof of the Kunsthal. The algae will provide biomass, which will be converted into biogas, which in turn will be used to generate enough clean energy for the entire Kunsthal. To provide optimal conditions for the algaes to grow rapidly I used a parabolic mirror that is closed o with a glass panel. The parabolic mirror focuses sunrays on the algae tubes to increase the sunlight they obtain. Closing o the system with a glass panel creates a small scale greenhouse around the algae, which makes it possible to maintain the ideal temperature for the algae throughout the year. Through obtaining more sunlight and guaranteeing the ideal temperature the algae growing rate will be boosted.

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Fig. 2.2

Fig. 2.1 The Kunsthal in bird eyes view, with the chosen sloped roof fragment with triangular shaped roof lights on the up side in pink (Source: edited from Schwarz). Fig. 2.2 View from the Kunsthal roof, with left the sloped roof, middle the roofgarden and the tower and to the right the at roof (Source: Schwarz)

2. The fragment chosen

The fragment I have chosen is the roof above the main exposition hall of the Kunsthal in Rotterdam by OMA. In the original plan the roof was made accessible, it functioned as the endpoint of the much famed routing that leads through the entire building. Nowadays the entrance to the roof is closed because of re and safety constraints. This is regretful because the routing is the most exquisite feature of the Kunsthal and in particular the characteristic that made it so famous. At the moment this routing misses a clear climax. The re-opening and re-design of the roof could provide this climax. The unused roofscape of 60 x 60 meter is entered through a ight of gently sloped stairs. Next to the stairs, in the middle of the building is a sloped roofgarden including pear trees. The stairs end up onto a long and narrow roof terrace made of perforated steel. The terrace is separated from the rest of the roof through a big orange steel beam and the tower. The tower stands in the middle of the roof and is made of a steel construction clad with corrugated plastic sheets and perforated metal sheets. Also there is a billboard mounted to the tower. In the tower there are additional stairs and some climate installations situated. The rest of the roof consists of two parts; one part is at and covered by regular bitumen roof cover and another big orange steel beam. The other part is slightly sloped and has long triangular shaped roof lights and is covered by a corrugated sheet. On the roof there are also two statues present. My redesign will focus on the sloped part of the roof that is situated above the main exposition hall.

1. Schwartz, Ineke, Koolhaas, Rem. Kunsthal Rotterdam, magazine a+t, issue number 2, 2002.

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Fig. 4.3

Fig. 4.1 Roof farming on top of a skyscraper in the middle of the city of Chicago (Source: Sulin). Fig. 4.2 Tubular photobioreactor for growing algae (Source: CALPOLY). Fig. 4.3 Parabolic mirror focus sunrays on Photovoltaic cell (Source: SkyFuel).

3. The research question

The main research question of this article will be: How can the growing of algae on the roof of the Kunsthal add to the existing building in a sustainable way as well as in an architectural way? To answer this main research question I composed several sub-questions: - What ways are there to grow algae? - Which ways are there to create energy out of the algae? - How can the growing of algae be improved, so it can be used for application on the roof of a building? - How can the process of creating energy out of algae be improved, so it can be used for application on the roof of a building?

4. Reference Project
My redesign is based upon the combination of three reference projects; the new phenomena of roof farming, the technology concerning algae farms and the use of a parabolic mirror to focus sunrays into one point. Roof farming Roof farming is the practice of cultivating food on the rooftop of buildings . It became popular in American cities like Chicago and New York and the phenomenom is now entering the Netherlands. The rst projects are being realized in Rotterdam and Amsterdam. Algae farms The technology concerning algae growth is rapidly developing. Algae grow 7 to 30 times faster than the next biomass creating crop and have huge potential in supplying the world with energy (Hossain). Algae grow using photosynthesis and therefore only need sunlight, owing water, the right temperature and some nutrients to grow (Durrant et al.). The algae also consume a large fraction of CO2 while growing, thus cleaning the surrounding air. In the world there are already some examples of large scale algae farms. At the moment there are three major ways of growing algae; algae ponds, photobioreactor using tubes and photobioreactor using sacks (Demirbas et al.). The algae pond is an open system consisting of horizontally placed ponds lled with shallow water and algae. This system is relatively easy to construct and operate. Major limitations are poor light utilization by the cells, evaporation losses, diusion of CO2 to the atmosphere, risk of contamination and requirement of large areas. The photobioreactor is a closed system where the supply of light, nutrients, CO2, air, and temperature can be regulated. The algae can either be grown in soft plastic sacks or hard plastic tubes. The sacks are cheaper but more vulnerable, and are only used inside (a greenhouse) in a fully controlled environment. The tubes are more expensive but less vulnerable, and can be used outside in a semi-controlled environment (Chisti). For creating an algae farm on the roof of the Kunsthal each of the growing methods could be used, each having a dierent architectural solution. Parabolic mirror Parabolic mirrors are used to focus sunrays into one point. This advantage is nowadays used to focus sunrays onto photovoltaic cells, in order to heighten the eciency and production. Parabolic mirrors could also be used to focus sunrays onto an algae tube to heighten its growth rate. When combining these three references you could get a parabolic mirror supported algae growing roof farm.

1. Sulin, Otto. Hanging gardens of Babylon, 2001, http:// www.openideo.com, 22 Jan. 2013 2.CALPOLY, Biofuels, San Luis: CEA energy working group, http://www.brae.calpoly.edu/CEAE/biofuels.html, 22 Jan. 2013 3. SkyFuel, Proven Track Record, Innovative Design, http://www.skyfuel.com/index_main.html#/OUR%20PRODUCTS/SKYTROUGH/, 22 Jan. 2013 4. Hossain, Sharif A.B.M., et al.Biodiesel fuel production from algae as renewable energy American journal of biochemistry and biotechnology 4 (2008) Science Publications 5. Durrant, Aimee, Boyd, Bryan, Introduction to Algae. Westminster: westminstercollege.edu, 2003 6. Demirbas, Ayhan. Use of algae as biofuel sources. Energy Conversion and Management 51 (2010) 7. Chisti, Yusuf. Biodiesel from microalgae beats bioethanol Trends in Biotechnology Vol.26 No.3 (2008)

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Fig. 1 Different ways of placing a tubular algae photobioreactor on the roof of the Kunsthal. Fig. 2 First idea of a tubular algae photobioreactor integrated in the sloped roof of the Kunsthal. Fig. 3 Further developed design of tubular algae photobioreactor with additional (small) parabolic mirrors and openable at glass roof. Fig. 4 Design proposal with tubular algae photobioreactor, larger parabolic mirrors, greenhouse like glass roof and suggestions of rotating mechanism. Fig. 5 More detailed fragment of design proposal with tubular algae photobioreactor, larger parabolic mirrors, greenhouse like glass roof and suggestions of rotating mechanism.With dimensions and wrongly orientated parabolic mirror. Fig. 6 Design of closed off parabolic mirror with scheme of rotating mechanism.

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Fig. 5.1

Fertilizer CO2 Water (H20) (sun)light

O2

ALGAE
Algae Sludge Waste Sludge

Hypoxia Tank
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Gas Tank
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Annamox reactor
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NH4 (Ammonium)

Fig. 5.2

Fig. 5.1 Algae grow 7 to 30 times faster than the next biomass creating crop; palm oil (Source: Gao). Fig. 5.2 The proposed process to create greengas out of algae sludge and waste sludge (Source: own work) 1. The algae sludge and waste sludge are suffocated in the hypoxia tank. 2. The oxygen free sludge is fed to the anaerobic digester creating biogas. 3. This biogas is fed to the annamox reactor to make the process more continuous (by removing NH4). And to remove the toxic H2S in order to upgrade the biogas to greengas quality. 4.This greengas is stored into a gastank and used to generate electricity in an aggregate.

5. Literature references
Algae grow 7 to 30 times faster than the next biomass creating crop and have huge potential in supplying the world with energy. The biomass that is contained within the algae is most commonly used to produce biofuel. Large scale algae farming is becoming more and more commercially viable. And in recent times the rst building designs with integrated algae systems are being produced (Hendriksen). In this paragraph I will rstly describe how a tubular photo bioreactor works, then how the process of creating biofuel from algae works, after that I will argue why this process isnt suitable for integration in an architectural design, followed by an alternative proposal that could be fully integrated in an architectural (re)design. The process of growing algae in a tubular photobioreactor. The requirements for growing algae properly are; sucient sunlight to employ photosynthesis, the right temperature (somewhere between 10-25 degrees, dependent on the species of algae), owing water, additional nutrients and CO2. A tubular photobioreactor is a closed system consisting of small translucent tubes where the supply of light, nutrients, CO2, air, and temperature can be regulated. When you rst start growing algae you need a start-up culture, this start-up culture is mixed with moving water and exposed to sunlight. Regularly nutrients and CO2 are added in order to let the algae grow more rapidly. When enough algae have grown you can start harvesting regularly. Because of the high growing rate of the algae they consume a large fraction of CO2, thus cleaning the surrounding air. The creation of biofuel. The biomass that is contained within the algae is most commonly used to produce biofuel. There are two factors that are important for the production of biofuels from algae. Firstly, the dry mass factor of the algae; this is the percentage of dry biomass in relation to the fresh biomass. Secondly, the lipid content, this is the percentage of oil in relation to the dry biomass needed to get it (Wiley et al.). To create biofuel out of the harvested algae the extract is dried until there is only dry biomass left. Secondly the lipid, or oily content is extracted from the dry biomass which is then converted into biofuels through a process called fermentation. This biofuel can then be burned to create electricity. The disadvantages of creating biofuel The disadvantages of this process are that the creation of biofuel from algae is very much dependent on the quality (dry mass factor and lipid content) of the algae. This quality should be very precisely monitored. Another disadvantage is that the process to create biofuel out of algae sludge is very extensive, there are a lot of dierent large scale machineries needed for harvesting, monitoring, drying, extracting and fermentation (Wiley et al.). This way of farming algae is more suitable for large scale factory like arrangements and not so much for buildings. Most of the architectural designs with integrated algae systems therefore propose to sell the biomass to an external factory. In this sense the algae system merely adds an iconic feature to the building and doesnt help the building get more sustainable in any way. Alternative proposal To really let the algae system be a sustainable addition to a building design I propose to convert the algae sludge into biogas. This process is less complicated and less quality dependent and can thus be produced in the building itself. To create biogas out of algae sludge, the harvested algae sludge is directly fed to an anaerobic digester (Salerno et al.). Here the algaes are suocated in the absence of oxygen (and light). In this way biogas is created, which can be used to create electricity in an aggregate. Improvements of proposal The main disadvantage of an anaerobic digester is that the process has to run in absence of oxygen (which takes a lot of energy to remove from the input). Another disadvantage of anaerobic digestion is that the rate of production is slowed down due the creation of unwanted ammonium (NH4). The rst problem is easily solvable when algae sludge and waste sludge (for example containing biodegradable waste from the restaurant, paper waste from the oces and sewer sludge) are put together in a closed o tank (Yen et al.). The respiration of the algae removes the oxygen from the mixture in a process called hypoxia. Only after this the resulting oxygen free sludge is fed to the anaerobic digester to create the actual biogas. Another advantage of this process is that there is additional biomass contained within the waste sludge. The second problem is solvable when the output of the anaerobic digestion process is led through an anammox reactor where ammonium is ltered out to make the anaerobic digestion process more ecient and continuously (Kuenen). Another advantage of the anammox reactor is that it consumes a large fraction of the CO2 and removes the toxic H2S to upgrade the biogas to greengas quality. This gas is then stored in a gastank and the major part is used to generate electricity in an aggregate.

1. Gao, Yihe, et al. Algae Biodiesel A Feasibility Report, Chicago: BPRO, 2009 2. Hendrikson, Robert, Edwards, Mark. Imagine our algae future; visionary algae architecture and landscape designs. Richmon: Ronore Enterprises, 2012 3. Wiley, Patrick E., Campbell, J. Elliott and McKuin, Brandi. Production of Biodiesel and Biogas from Algae: A Review of Process Train Options Water Environment Research, Volume 83, Number 4 (2011) 4. Salerno, Michael, Nurdogan, Yakup and Lundquist, Tryg J. Biogas Production from Algae Biomass Harvested at Wastewater Treatment Ponds. Seattle; ASABE Conference Presentation, 2009 5.Yen, Hong Wei and Brune, David E. Anaerobic codigestion of algal sludge and waste paper to produce methane, Bioresource Technology 98 (2007): p. 130134 6. Kuenen, Gijs, applications of the anammox process, Delft: Life Science Symposium: Evolution & Development, 2010

Openable glass panel

Tubular photobioreactor tubes

Insulated parabolic mirror

Holding and rotating device

Curtain roof system

Walkable insulated gutter

Existing load bearing construction

Fig. 6.1

Fig. 6.2

Fig. 6.1 Exploded view of a fragment of the roof construction and tubular photobioreactor with parabolic mirror (Source: own work). Fig. 6.2 Axonometric projection of a fragment of the roof construction and tubular photobioreactor with parabolic mirror (Source: own work).

6. Redesign
6.1 Structural design For my redesign I used the existing sloped roof construction and turned it 180 degrees in order to orientate the slope in the direction of the sun. The main construction details and the integrated ventilation system stay the same. On the roof structure I placed an aluminum curtain roof system with integrated walkable gutters. On the mullions of this curtain roof system the supporting aluminum structure of the algae installation is mounted. The climate plan of the Kunsthal itself stays approximately the same, the only dierence is that the energy needed for the climate installations is fully provided by the algae system on the roof. 6.2 Construction design Firstly the original roof construction is disassembled, and then reassembled in the opposite way. On this structure the aluminum insulated gutters are mounted, which in turn carries the mullions of the aluminum curtain roof system. The HR+ glass system is placed in an angle of 3.2 degrees (which is the same angle as the original sloped roof construction) in order to let the rainwater stream into the gutters. The glass system consists of 4mm toughened glass, 12mm cavity lled with dry air and 6mm toughened glass with metal coating. On the mullions of the curtain roof system the algae installation is mounted. The algae installation consists of four parts, namely; the supporting structure of the algae installation, the tubular algae photobioreactors, the parabolic mirrors and the machine chamber. Supporting structure The supporting structure of the algae installation consists of aluminum trussed columns with a height of 500mm. These are bolted to the mullions of the curtain roof system, with a spacing in the length of the tubes of 7500mm and a spacing between the tubes of 1700mm. The columns hold the xing mechanism of the algae tubes and the rotating device of the parabolic mirror. Tubular algae photobioreactor The tubular algae photobioreactor is made out of transparent hard plastic and is xed to the holding device every 7500mm. The tubes have a diameter of 200mm. This large diameter could be achieved because of the parabolic mirror. The conventional tube diameter is no larger than 100mm and is restricted by the needed light penetration of the sun (that comes from one side only). By installing a parabolic mirror underneath the algae tube the light is reected onto all sides of the tube. Therefore we can make the tube twice as large in diameter, thus increasing its circle surface and its content by four (because; Area of circle = pi*r^2). The algae tubes are placed on the sloped roof in order to use some additional gravitational energy to keep the algaes owing. Parabolic mirror The parabolic mirror is positioned underneath and partially around the algae tubes and it is xed to the holding and rotating device every 7500mm. The parabolic mirror has a maximum width of 1650mm and a maximum height of 560mm, the heart to heart distance between two adjacent mirror is 1700mm. Making it able to let the parabolic mirrors move separate from each other (for example for maintaining purposes). The parabolic mirror is insulated and it is closed o by an openable glass panel, thus creating a small scale greenhouse around the algae. The parabolic mirror gives three improvements to the tubular algae photobioreactor. Firstly, the diameter of the algae tubes can be enlarged thus exponentially increasing its content. Secondly, the parabolic mirror increases the amount of sun the algaes obtain, increasing the photosynthesis possibility, thus mak-

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Fig. 6.3 Azimuth rotary system, 1:20 (Source: own work). 1. Rotary engine. 2. Fixing point of parabolic mirror. 3. Rotating part 4. Rotating direction of outer edge of parabolic mirror. 5. Algae tube Fig. 6.4 Large scale azimuth rotary device (Source: NRAO). Fig. 6.5 1:10 section through parabolic mirror system with in elevation the rotary system. (Source: own work) 1. Algae tube 2. Fixing point of rotary device. 3. Aluminum beam 4. Openable glasspanel (6mm toughned glass) 5. Regulatable ventilation opening 6. Mirror lm, 50mm insulation, aluminum cladding 7. Aluminum welded supporting trussed column.

ing them grow faster. Thirdly, by creating a small scale greenhouse around the algae the ideal growing temperature of the algae can be guaranteed, thus boosting its growth rate even further. The parabolic mirror design of the solar power industry can be used with some small alterations. The outer shell has to be insulated, an openable glass panel has to be xed on top and the rotating system will be dierent. The rotating system has to be dierent because the parabolic mirror systems used in the solar power industry are xed to the photovoltaic cells, rotating them all at once. This rotating system is not applicable for the proposed algae system because the tubes are solidly xed and cannot move accordingly. The rotating system I propose consists of an azimuth rotary that rotates a xed point around a specic centre. This centre is ofcourse the centre of the algae tube (the system is represented in g. 6.3). The openable parabolic mirror can also protect the algae from overheating and/or too much sunlight by opening the glass panel or rotating away from the sun. Machine chamber The machine chamber is placed on the roof between the start and the end of the algae photobioreactor tubes. It is designed as a small tower in accordance with the existing tower of the Kunsthal. In the machine chamber there are several installations present. Firstly, the pump to move the algae sludge through the photobioreactor. Secondly, the feeding vessel, that feeds nutrients, CO2 and additional water to the algae sludge. Thirdly, a ltering system for harvesting the fully grown algae. Fourthly, all the installation needed for the extraction of the gas (as described in Paragraph 5). These are the hypoxia tank, the anaerobic digester, the annamox reactor, the gastank and the aggregate. 6.3 Climate design The climate design of the Kunsthal itself stays approximately the same, the only dierence is that the energy needed for the climate installations is fully provided by the algae system on the roof (the appurtenant calculation follows below). The largest part of the algae tubes is separated from outside by an insulated parabolic mirror that is closed o by a glass panel. In this way a small scale greenhouse is created around the algae tube. The climate design of this small scale greenhouse works as follow: because of this greenhouse the temperature which the algae are exposed to are made controllable. There are small air in- and outlets in the middle, top and bottom of the parabolic mirror to let hot air escape. The openable parabolic mirror can also protect the algae from overheating and/or too much sunlight by opening the glass panel or rotating away from the sun. Also if maintenance is needed the glass panel is openable. A secondary advantage that the rotating parabolic mirrors entail, is that they operate as sunshading for the glassroof of the main exposition hall. The mirrors are always pointed towards the sun, thus letting only diuse light pass through and preventing overheating of the exposition hall. The opening between the mirrors is larger in winter, letting through more light. This way sucient diuse light always enters creating ideal circumstances for an exhibition space.

1. NRAO, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Antenna mechanics at work, 2009, http://www.vla.nrao.edu/genpub/ work/antmech2.shtml, 22 Jan. 2013

Winter situaon (sun angle 14 degrees) Summer situaon (sun angle 62 degrees)

1:20

OUTPUT

INPUT

Winter situaon (sun angle 14 degrees)

Summer situaon (sun angle 62 degrees)

1:20
Fig. 6.6

Fig. 6.6 Scaled down 1:20 of the roof elevation, with parabolic mirror in winter and summer situation (Source: own work).

Calculation of the necessary amount of algae tubes needed to provide the Kunsthal with sucient energy. Data: The Kunsthal consumes approximately 1.000.000 Kwh per year (Braal), which come down to 1.000.000/365 = 2740 Kwh per day. A conservative estimation of the algae to biomass productivity lies between 1,46 - 1,9 Gram biomass per Liter Algae sludge (Lemos). The biomass to biogas productivity is approximately 2,3m3 of biogas per kilogram of biomass (Leeuw). The cleansed biogas is of greengas quality; the greengas to energy productivity lies between 9,5 - 10,7 Kwh of energy per m3 of greengas (VREG)(BBB) . An conservative guess about the amount of biodegradable waste and paper waste of the Kunsthal lies between the 5 - 10 kg per day. The tube diameter of the photobioreactor is 200mm = 0,2m, giving a radius of r = 0,1m. Calculation of lowest amount: Energy consumption per day = 2740 Kwh. gives 2740/9,5 = 288,4 m3 biogas needed, gives 288,4/2,3 = 125,4 kg = 125400 gram biomas needed, of which 5kg coming from biodegradable waste and paper waste. gives 125400 - 5000 = 120400 gram biomas needed from algae, gives 120400/1,46 = 82466,1 L = 82,5 m3 of algae sludge per day. Surface Atube = pi * r^2 with r = 0,1m gives pi*0,1^2 = 0,0314m2, gives 82,5/0,0314 = 2626,3 m = 2600 m tubes needed. Calculation of highest amount: Energy consumption per day = 2740 Kwh. gives 2740/10,7 = 256,1 m3 biogas needed, gives 256,1/2,3 = 111,3 kg = 111300 gram biomas needed, of which 10kg coming from biodegradable waste and paper waste. gives 111300 - 10000 = 101300 gram biomas needed from algae, gives 101300/1,9 = 53335,2 L = 53,3 m3 of algae sludge per day. Surface Atube = pi * r^2 with r = 0,1m gives pi*0,1^2 = 0,0314m2, gives 53,3/0,0314 = 1698,6 m = 1700 m tubes needed. Proposed system: When the proposed system is only applied to the sloped roof of the Kunsthal (37,5 m x 52,5 m) there will be 36 tubes of 50 meter, gives 36 x 50 = 1800 meter of tubes. This arrangement will only suce when the highest values are achieved (this could however be realistic because the calculation does not include the benets which the closed of parabolic mirror entails). When the proposed system is applied to the entire roof of the Kunsthal (60 m x 60 m) there will be approximately 57 tubes of 57 meter, gives 57 x 57 = 3250 meter of tubes. This arrangement will even suce when the lowest values are achieved.

1. Braal, R. de, Rapport Integrale Visie Kunsthal; met een scope van 10-15 jaar, Rotterdam: Stadsontwikkeling afdeling Vastgoed, 2012 (p. 7) 2. Lemos, Mark. Algae biomass productivity. AU Algae University http://www.algaeu.com/biomass-productivity. html 22 Jan. 2013 3. Leeuw, Kasper de, Zoetmulder, Anton A. The living house concept. Delft: Deltasync, 2010 4.VREG. Hoeveel Kwh gaat er in een m3? http://www. aanbieders.be/energie/faqs/hoeveel-kwh-gaat-er-in-eenm3 22 Jan. 2013 5. BBB; Baltic Biogas Bus. About biogas. 2009 http://www. balticbiogasbus.eu/web/about-biogas.aspx 22 Jan. 2013

Winter situaon (sun angle 14 degrees) Summer situaon (sun angle 62 degrees)
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Fig. 6.7 Scaled down 1:20 of the East-West section, with parabolic mirror in winter and summer situation (Source: own work). Fig. 6.8 Scaled down 1:20 of the North-South section, with parabolic mirror in winter and summer situation (Source: own work). 1. Algae tube, diameter 200mm 2. Holding and rotating device 3. Parabolic mirror with openable glass panel 4. Glass curtain roof system; consisting of aluminum beams (100x50mm) and HR+ glass; 4mm toughened glass, 12mm cavity lled with dry air and 6mm toughened glass with metal coating. In slope of 3,2 degrees 5. Walkable insulated aluminum gutter (450x175mm) 6. Existing ventilation mechanism 7. Lowered ceiling consisting of milk glass. 8. (continuation of) Existing facade 9. Roof garden Fig. 6.9 Scaled down 1:5 section of East-West section of curtain roof system (Source: own work). Fig. 6.10 Scaled down 1:5 section of North-South section of curtain roof system (Source: own work).

Fig. 6.9

Fig. 6.10

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Fig. 6.11

Fig. 6.11 1:20 section of the main functions of the parabolic mirror (Source: own work) 1.The parabolic mirror is positioned towards the sun through an azimuth rotating motor 2. The top of the parabolic mirror is openable to prevent overheating and to make maintainance possible. 3. Sunrays are focused onto the algae tube by the parabolic mirror. 4. Temperature is controlled within the parabolic mirror by air in- and outlets.

7. Peer Review
Georgia Syriopoulou | 4247108 The article and the redesign convincingly address the matter of sustainability trough an energy harvesting system from algae to cover the buildings energy demands. It has a strong base on literature and project references that are successfully recomposed to meet the specicity of the project. There are remarks on specic parts of the article: + Although the description of the roofscape is quite detailed it remains a bit unclear which is the exact chosen fragment. A very simple diagram highlighting the area of the redesign would be adequate. + Concerning the reference projects they are very clear and relevant. Also the literature references provide with a thorough analysis of the systems used and show good knowledge on the subject. However I think annotations are missing both on the pictures and in the text. + The description of the redesign is understandable and the diagrams accompanying successfully showcase the way it works in dierent climate conditions. + I have a slight objection on the details chosen to be drawn in a 1/5 scale since they dont concern the basic part of the redesign but the structure of the roof that already exists. Although I do understand that the algae system might be too much about mechanological installations maybe a detail of the mirrors base mounted on the roof would be feasible to draw. Mel Schafer | 4255852 An interesting and innovative solutions that maximises the use of the large at roof area. Perhaps make use of the space in the research question spade to list the questions for clearer understanding of your intentions. i.e. point form. I feel with the extent of the redesigned roof there is potential for further sustainable climatic solutions like heating in winter and climatic regulate. (I was thinking about using the water already needed for the algae for other solutions - heat storage in addition to biogas generation.) Is there possibilities to harvest the O2?

8. Self Reection
Regarding the peer review of Georgia Syriopoulou. I improved the text of Paragraph 2 and added a simple diagram indicating the sloped roof. Throughout the article I added annotations and the correct references. Concerning the chosen details; I can fully understand the objection Georgia has against the chosen details. However I discussed this matter with my tutor before, concluding that a 1:5 detail of the parabolic mirror would indeed be too specic to elaborate. I therefore chose to elaborate the curtain roof system to a 1:5 scale. As an extra feature I elaborated the algae system including holding device, parabolic mirror and functioning of the rotating device to a 1:10 scale. This shows materializations and functioning of the system but not the exact xing. Regarding the peer review of Mel Schafer. I improved the text regarding the research question, listing the dierent sub-questions. There probably is potential in investigating other climate solutions that could accompany the algae growing system. However, I could spend an entire extra Building Technology course looking into these potentials. Also, this would probably just distract from the main issue I am trying to touch upon.

Fig. 6.12

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Fig.6.14

Fig. 6.12 Parabolic algae roof in summer situation, sun on 62 degrees (Source: own work). Fig. 6.13 Parabolic algae roof in winter situation, sun on 14 degrees (Source: own work). Fig. 6.14 Susan of the Google Sketch-Up team is maintaining the parabolic algae installation (Source: own work). The installation shown here is congruent with the scale that would t on the sloped roof of the Kunsthal.

9. Conclusion
In this article I described a potential algae growing system that has a heightened productivity and were the biomass contained within the algaes is used to create biogas. The algae growing system consist of a tubular photobioreactor improved with a closed o insulated parabolic mirror. This parabolic mirror gives the tubular photobioreactor several advantages; Firstly, the diameter of the algae tubes can be enlarged thus exponentially increasing its content. Secondly, the parabolic mirror increases the amount of sun the algaes obtain, thus making them grow faster. Thirdly, by creating a small scale greenhouse around the algae the ideal growing temperature of the algae can be guaranteed, thus boosting its growth rate even further. Also the conversion process from algae to biogas, called anaerobic digestion, has been improved to heighten eciency. This has been done by negating the two disadvantages of the anaerobic digestion process. Firstly, the oxygen is removed from the algae sludge by adding waste sludge, in order to respirate the algaes. Secondly, in order to make the process of biogas creation more eective and continuous the created biogas is led through an annamox reactor, which removes NH4, H2S and CO2. Also upgrading the biogas to greengas quality. The proposed improvements of the algae tubes concerning the parabolic mirror is probably feasible, although a lot of specialized designing still has to be done to make the parabolic mirror suitable. Making these improvements myself didnt seem feasible for this course, so I only got the change to elaborate the system to a 1:10 scale. This way I ended up with 1:5 details of the curtain roof system with integrated walk able gutter, this system is less important for the functioning of the algae system itself. But it denitely gives an additional feature, making the rotating mirrors function within the lightning concept of the exposition hall and making maintenance possible at the same time. The proposed improvements concerning the conversion from algae to biogas is given further research at this exact moment, giving hopeful results. This process is denitely the elected alternative of making full integration of an algae system within a building possible. Because of the overall diculty of even grasping upon the complex matter of algae growing, harvesting and conversion, I didnt really have sucient time designing a real architectural solution. Sometimes I feel the proposed design is still just a technological masterpiece, instead of architecture. However, I am very happy that I had the change to dig deeper into this fascinating matter.

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