In this study, a photobioreactor for mass-culturing microalgae was developed. Because of the optimized arrangement of internal light-emitting diode (LED) illumination, a major advantage to this reactor is that the volume of the reactor vessel is not limited. Using Dunaliella tertiolecta as the microalgae, the bioreactor displayed the flashing-light effect of the microalgae photosynthesis process. This phenomenon was achieved using a series of blue and red LEDs set at appropriate positions within the reactor to evenly distribute the light intensity. Our experimental results suggested that the maximum cell density in the culture experiment was 1.88 x 10(3) cells L-1, which is approximately 67% of the maximum density under ideal conditions. The harvest yield of the algae was estimated by a numerical model using measured parameters; it was predicted that the bioreactor developed in this study can attain a high growth rate of D. tertiolecta by controlling the distance between LEDs. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.