Characterization of flocculating agent from the self-flocculating microalga Scenedesmus obliquus AS-6-1 for efficient biomass harvest

Reviews of Science for Science Librarians: Microbes that Make Biofuels and Work within Fuel Cells

“…Updated cost-benefit analyses have shown that while biodiesel from a variety of plant-based sources already accounts for 76 percent of the European Union's biofuel production and use, biodiesel from microalgae is not yet a commercially viable operation on a large scale. But it is a technology that is getting closer and closer to a payoff (Guo et al 2013;J. Kim et al 2013;Matos et al 2013;Nagarajan et al 2013;Pandey, Pragya, and Sahoo 2013;Stephens, Ross, and Hankamer 2013).…”

Biodiesel production from wet microalgae feedstock using sequential wet extraction/transesterification and direct transesterification processes

“…This caused severe problems in performing the oil extraction from wet microalgae, since the oil-containing microalgae were located in dilute solutions containing microalgae fragments that were difficult to concentrate. To cope with this problem, the present study tried to utilize the properties of the cell wall-associated polysaccharides of microalgae to induce flocculation and precipitation of the microalgal biomass by treating it with a sufficient amount of methanol (Guo et al, 2013;Xu et al, 2014). After the microwave disruption and methanol flocculation steps, the concentrated microalgae biomass with a solid content of 56.6-60.5% could be easily and effectively collected using a commercial filtration bag and a spin dryer, thus significantly reducing the volume of the microalgae feedstock for the subsequent oil extraction.…”

Cells Harvesting of Tropic Ocean Oleaginous Microalga Strain Desmodesmus Sp. WC08

“…Flocculation is a process in which freely-suspended cells are aggregated together to form large particles and cells can then be easily harvested by sedimentation [8]. Flocculation is usually induced by various factors, mainly including chemicals which are called flocculants, for example, aluminum and ferric salts, as well as cationic polymers.…”