Ndikubwimana Theoneste, Chang Jingyu, Xiao Zongyuan, Shao Wenyao, Zeng Xianhai, Ng I-Son, Lu Yinghua
Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China.
College of Energy, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China.
Biotechnol J. 2016 Mar;11(3):315-26. doi: 10.1002/biot.201500175. Epub 2016 Jan 14.
Microalgal biomass as renewable energy source is believed to be of great potential for reliable and sustainable biofuels production. However, microalgal biomass production is pinned by harvesting and dewatering stage thus hindering the developing and growing microalgae biotechnology industries. Flotation technology applied in mineral industry could be potentially applied in microalgae harvesting and dewatering, however substantial knowledge on different flotation units is essential. This paper presents an overview on different flotation units as promising cost-effective technologies for microalgae harvesting thus bestowing for further research in development and commercialization of microalgae based biofuels. Dispersed air flotation was found to be less energy consuming. Moreover, Jameson cell flotation and dispersed ozone flotation are believed to be energy efficient microalgae flotation approaches. Microalgae harvesting and dewatering by flotation is still at embryonic stage, therefore extended studies with the focus on life cycle assessment, sustainability of the flotation unit, optimization of the operating parameters using different algal species is imperative. Though there are a number of challenges in microalgae harvesting and dewatering, with well designed and developed cultivation, harvesting/dewatering, extraction and conversion technologies, progressively, microalgae technology will be of great potential for biological carbon sequestration, biofuels and biochemicals production.
微藻生物质作为可再生能源，被认为在可靠且可持续的生物燃料生产方面具有巨大潜力。然而，微藻生物质的生产受制于收获和脱水阶段，从而阻碍了微藻生物技术产业的发展。应用于矿业的浮选技术有可能应用于微藻的收获和脱水，但对不同浮选装置的充分了解至关重要。本文概述了不同的浮选装置，这些装置作为有前景的具有成本效益的微藻收获技术，为基于微藻的生物燃料的开发和商业化的进一步研究提供了支持。发现分散空气浮选能耗较低。此外，詹姆森槽浮选和分散臭氧浮选被认为是高效节能的微藻浮选方法。通过浮选进行微藻收获和脱水仍处于起步阶段，因此必须开展以生命周期评估、浮选装置的可持续性、使用不同藻类物种优化操作参数为重点的深入研究。尽管微藻收获和脱水存在诸多挑战，但通过精心设计和开发的培养、收获/脱水、提取和转化技术，微藻技术将逐步在生物碳封存、生物燃料和生物化学品生产方面具有巨大潜力。
