Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Shandong Analysis and Test Center, Jinan, Shandong 250014, China; Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Saint Paul, MN 55108, USA.
School of Bioengineering, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Jinan, Shandong 250353, China.
Bioresour Technol. 2020 Oct;314:123770. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2020.123770. Epub 2020 Jul 2.
Microalgae harvesting is a major hindrance for the development of the microalgae industry. In this paper, short microwave treatment was used to assist the flocculation of Chlorella vulgaris with three flocculants, Fe (FeCl), chitosan, and Ca (CaCl). A microwave irradiation time of 20 s, and a pH of 10 was found to be the optimum condition. The harvesting efficiency could be significantly increased by 43.2%, 49.5% and 39.6%, respectively for Fe, chitosan, and Ca assisted by microwave under these conditions. Microwave treatment did not cause any damage to the algal cells, and had no obvious influence on the lipid extraction. Microwave treatment decreased the concentration of the flocculants in culture medium after flocculation; this treatment enabled the reuse of the supernatant. This study provides a new and promising method of improving the flocculation efficiency for microalgae harvesting, by using microwave energy.
微藻收获是微藻产业发展的主要障碍。在本文中，采用短微波处理辅助三种絮凝剂（Fe（FeCl）、壳聚糖和 Ca（CaCl））絮凝小球藻。结果发现，微波辐照时间 20s、pH 值 10 为最佳条件。在该条件下，微波辅助 Fe、壳聚糖和 Ca 分别可将采收效率显著提高 43.2%、49.5%和 39.6%。微波处理对藻细胞没有造成任何损伤，对脂质提取也没有明显影响。微波处理可降低絮凝后培养基中絮凝剂的浓度；该处理可使上清液重复使用。该研究为利用微波能提高微藻采收的絮凝效率提供了一种新的、有前景的方法。
