Dosage effect of cationic polymers on the flocculation efficiency of the marine microalga Neochloris oleoabundans

G P 't Lam; E K Zegeye; M H Vermuë; D M M Kleinegris; M H M Eppink; R H Wijffels; G Olivieri

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2015.09.097

Dosage effect of cationic polymers on the flocculation efficiency of the marine microalga Neochloris oleoabundans

Bioresour Technol. 2015 Dec:198:797-802. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2015.09.097. Epub 2015 Oct 9.

Authors

G P 't Lam¹, E K Zegeye², M H Vermuë², D M M Kleinegris³, M H M Eppink², R H Wijffels⁴, G Olivieri²

Affiliations

¹ Bioprocess Engineering, AlgaePARC, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 16, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: gerard.tlam@wur.nl.
² Bioprocess Engineering, AlgaePARC, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 16, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands.
³ Wageningen UR, Food & Biobased Research, AlgaePARC, P.O. Box 17, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands.
⁴ Bioprocess Engineering, AlgaePARC, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 16, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands; University of Nordland, Faculty of Biosciences and Aquaculture, N-8049 Bodø, Norway.

PMID: 26454366
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2015.09.097

Abstract

A mechanistic mathematical model was developed to predict the performance of cationic polymers for flocculating salt water cultivated microalgae. The model was validated on experiments carried out with Neochloris oleoabundans and three different commercial flocculants (Zetag 7557®, Synthofloc 5080H® and SNF H536®). For a wide range of biomass concentrations (0.49-1.37 g L(-1)) and flocculant dosages (0-150 mg L(-1)) the model simulations predicted well the optimal flocculant-to-biomass ratio between 43 and 109 mgflocculant/gbiomass. At optimum conditions biomass recoveries varied between 88% and 99%. The cost of the usage of commercial available flocculants is estimated to range between 0.15$/kgbiomass and 0.49$/kgbiomass.

Keywords: Cationic polymers; Flocculation; Harvesting; Marine microalgae; Mechanism.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Biomass
Cations / chemistry*
Chlorophyta* / chemistry
Chlorophyta* / metabolism
Flocculation*
Microalgae* / chemistry
Microalgae* / metabolism
Polymers / chemistry*

Substances

Cations
Polymers