Chelsea Technologies Looking for FRR Flourimeter Collaborators
January 11, 2012
AlgaeIndustryMagazine.com
ver the past 20 years active fluorescence has been widely adopted by the scientific community, ecosystem managers and crop growers as a rapid and non-invasive method of estimating photosynthetic performance within a wide range of organisms, including:
- Phytoplankton (microalgae and cyanobacteria)
- Biofilm
- Benthic autotrophs (corals, macroalgae and sea grasses)
- Terrestrial plants
The main rational for applying active fluorescence is that changes in key fluorescence parameters can reveal the early onset of chronic (recoverable) and acute (non-recoverable) degradation of photosynthetic performance and subsequent growth, e.g. resulting from nutrient deficiency or the presence on one or more toxicants.
Over the past 15 years the Chelsea Technologies Group has been developing an active fluorescence technique called Fast Repetition Rate (FRR) fluorimetry to monitor algae populations in the open-ocean, primarily to support climate and ocean modelling. Recently, however, they have been extending the technique to other applications, including water intake protection where the technique is used to detect deliberate contamination of fresh water supplies by monitoring the ‘health’ of the natural algal population through the FRR response.
The company believes there is application for FRR in monitoring the growth and productivity of a much wider range of micro or macro, algal production. Some of those areas include:
- Monitoring algal growth rates
- Optimizing algal growth conditions
- Monitoring potential toxic effects of nutrients, e.g. if using waste water
- Determining the optimum time for harvesting
Chelsea is currently looking to identify potential collaborators who might be able to help develop this application of the FRR technique.
For more information, contact: Ellen Keegan@Chelsea Technologies Group ekeegan@chelsea.co.uk
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