Abstract: Certain embodiments and aspects of the present invention relate to a photobioreactor including photobioreactor units through which a liquid medium stream and a gas stream flow. The photobioreactor units are floated on a body of water such as a pond or a lake. The liquid medium comprises at least one species of phototrophic organism therein. Certain methods of using the photobioreactor system as part of fuel generation system and/or a gas-treatment process or system at least partially remove certain undesirable pollutants from a gas stream. In certain embodiments, the photobioreactor units are formed of flexible, deformable material and are configured to provide a substantially constant thickness of liquid medium. In certain embodiments, a barrier between the photobioreactor unit and the body of water upon which the unit is floated facilitates thermal communication between the liquid medium and the body of water.

Abstract: Certain embodiments of the invention involve methods and systems for preselecting, adapting, and preconditioning one or more species of photosynthetic organisms, such as algae, to specific environmental and/ or operating conditions to which the photosynthetic organisms will subsequently be exposed during utilization in a photobioreactor apparatus of a gas treatment system. Also disclosed are new algal strains and cultures that can be produced by practicing the preselection, adaption, and preconditioning methods.

Abstract: Certain embodiments and aspects of the present invention relate to a photobioreactor including covered photobioreactor units through which a liquid medium stream and a gas stream flow. The liquid medium comprises at least one species of phototrophic organism therein. Certain methods of using the photobioreactor system as part of fuel generation system and/or a gas-treatment process or system at least partially remove certain undesirable pollutants from a gas stream. In certain embodiments, a portion of the liquid medium is diverted from a photobioreactor unit and reintroduced upstream of the diversion position.

Abstract: Integrated systems including a photobioreactor system designed to contain a liquid medium comprising at least one species of phototrophic organism therein, and a facility associated with extracting and/or processing oil extracted from mixtures of oil and solid material, such as an oil sands facility, are described. Processes for using a photobioreactor system as part of a gas-treatment process and system able to at least partially remove certain undesirable pollutants from a byproduct gas stream produced by an oil sands facility are also described. Examples of such pollutants that may be removed include compounds contained within combustion gases, e.g., CO2 and/or NOx. These pollutants processed with the photobioreactor system, and, in some embodiments, biomass produced with the photobioreactor system may be utilized to produce a fuel source (e.g., biodiesel) and cutting stock for further operation of or use in the oil sands facility.