Effective harvesting of the microalga Monoraphidium sp. QLY-1: Comparison of different flocculants

The microalga Monoraphidium sp. QLY-1 is considered to have potential as a lipid feedstock for biodiesel. However, the large-scale use of microalgae lipids is limited by difficulties in biomass harvesting and high costs. Among the many microalgae harvesting methods, chemical flocculation is consider...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied phycology 2024-06, Vol.36 (3), p.1143-1151
Main Authors: Long, Qingming, Chen, Xueling, Feng, Yongjie, He, Ximeng, Gu, Hong, Huang, Taicong, Zhao, Peng
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Algae
Alum
Aluminium
Aluminum
Aluminum sulfate
Aquatic microorganisms
Biodiesel fuels
Biofuels
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Cost analysis
Ecology
Efficiency
Ferric chloride
Ferric sulfate
Flocculants
Flocculation
Freshwater & Marine Ecology
Hydroxides
Iron sulfates
Life Sciences
Lipids
Magnesium
Magnesium hydroxide
Microalgae
Monoraphidium
Phytoplankton
Plant Physiology
Plant Sciences
Polyacrylamide
Sulfates
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Summary:The microalga Monoraphidium sp. QLY-1 is considered to have potential as a lipid feedstock for biodiesel. However, the large-scale use of microalgae lipids is limited by difficulties in biomass harvesting and high costs. Among the many microalgae harvesting methods, chemical flocculation is considered to be a suitable method for large-scale harvesting. In this study, the effects of five inorganic flocculants (ferric chloride, ferric sulfate, aluminum sulfate, magnesium hydroxide and alum) and two organic polymeric flocculants, polyacrylamide (PAM) and polydiallyldimethylammoniumchloride (PDADMAC), on the flocculation efficiency of Monoraphidium sp. QLY-1 and the cost of flocculants were analyzed. The flocculation efficiency of Monoraphidium sp. QLY-1 was unsatisfactory when treated with ferric chloride, magnesium hydroxide, alum or PAM (all less than 90% in 4 h). However, iron sulfate, aluminum sulfate and PDADMAC significantly promoted the flocculation efficiency of Monoraphidium sp. QLY-1 (all above 90% in a short settling time). PDADMAC could be used as an ideal flocculant for large-scale harvesting of Monoraphidium sp. QLY-1 due to its high flocculation efficiency (92.90% ± 0.92 in 1 h with 40 mg L -1 ) and low cost of use (microalgal broth m -3 with an estimated cost of 0.039 US$).
ISSN:0921-8971
1573-5176
DOI:10.1007/s10811-024-03198-x