Pandhal, J., Choon, W.L., Kapoore, R.V. orcid.org/0000-0002-2287-0619 et al. (7 more authors) (2018) Harvesting environmental microalgal blooms for remediation and resource recovery: a laboratory scale investigation with economic and microbial community impact assessment. Biology, 7 (1). 4. ISSN 2079-7737
Abstract
A laboratory based microflotation rig termed efficient FLOtation of Algae Technology (eFLOAT) was used to optimise parameters for harvesting microalgal biomass from eutrophic water systems. This was performed for the dual objectives of remediation (nutrient removal) and resource recovery. Preliminary experiments demonstrated that chitosan was more efficient than alum for flocculation of biomass and the presence of bacteria could play a positive role and reduce flocculant application rates under the natural conditions tested. Maximum biomass removal from a hyper-eutrophic water retention pond sample was achieved with 5 mg·L-1 chitosan (90% Chlorophyll a removal). Harvesting at maximum rates showed that after 10 days, the bacterial diversity is significantly increased with reduced cyanobacteria, indicating improved ecosystem functioning. The resource potential within the biomass was characterized by 9.02 μg phosphate, 0.36 mg protein, and 103.7 μg lipid per mg of biomass. Fatty acid methyl ester composition was comparable to pure cultures of microalgae, dominated by C16 and C18 chain lengths with saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Finally, the laboratory data was translated into a full-size and modular eFLOAT system, with estimated costs as a novel eco-technology for efficient algal bloom harvesting.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
Keywords: | environmental microalgae; resource recovery; eutrophication; microflotation; algal bloom |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 09 Jan 2018 12:36 |
Last Modified: | 23 Feb 2024 16:48 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | MDPI |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.3390/biology7010004 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:125957 |