KU Leuven Kulak, Laboratory Aquatic Biology, E. Sabbelaan 53, 8500 Kortrijk, Belgium.
Trends Biotechnol. 2013 Apr;31(4):233-9. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2012.12.005. Epub 2013 Jan 19.
The global demand for biomass for food, feed, biofuels, and chemical production is expected to increase in the coming decades. Microalgae are a promising new source of biomass that may complement agricultural crops. Production of microalgae has so far been limited to high-value applications. In order to realize large-scale production of microalgae biomass for low-value applications, new low-cost technologies are needed to produce and process microalgae. A major challenge lies in the harvesting of the microalgae, which requires the separation of a low amount of biomass consisting of small individual cells from a large volume of culture medium. Flocculation is seen as a promising low-cost harvesting method. Here, we overview the challenges and possible solutions for flocculating microalgae.
在未来几十年，全球对用于食品、饲料、生物燃料和化学品生产的生物质的需求预计将会增加。微藻是一种很有前途的新型生物质资源，可作为农业作物的补充。迄今为止，微藻的生产仅限于高价值应用。为了实现用于低价值应用的微藻生物质的大规模生产，需要开发新的低成本技术来生产和处理微藻。一个主要的挑战在于微藻的收获，这需要从小体积培养液中分离出由少量单细胞组成的低生物质量。絮凝被视为一种很有前途的低成本收获方法。在这里，我们综述了絮凝微藻所面临的挑战和可能的解决方案。
