Butler, T.O. orcid.org/0000-0003-1854-7250, Acurio, K., Mukherjee, J. et al. (3 more authors) (2021) The transition away from chemical flocculants: Commercially viable harvesting of Phaeodactylum tricornutum. Separation and Purification Technology, 255. 117733. ISSN 1383-5866
Abstract
Harvesting can contribute up to 15% of the total production cost for microalgal biomanufacturing. Using flocculants is potentially a cost-effective approach but there has been considerable debate on the efficacy, cost, toxicity to the cell and environment, and the effect on the biomass further downstream. In this study, a range of biobased flocculants (chitosan from crab shells, Moringa oleifera seed extract, pectin from bananas, tannic acid-based derivatives from Acacia tree bark and egg shell powder) were compared with traditional chemical flocculants (aluminium sulphate, iron chloride and sodium hydroxide) for harvesting the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum. It was concluded that Tanac’s tannin based Tanfloc 8025 (SL range) was the most promising, requiring a low concentration (10.4 kg ton−1 biomass), at low cost ($27.04 ton−1 microalgal biomass). The flocculant was effective over a wide pH (7.5–10.0) and temperature (15–28 °C) range and harvesting (>85% efficiency) occurred in 10 mins, which resulted in a biomass concentration factor of ≥ 5.69.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2020 Elsevier B.V. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Separation and Purification Technology. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. Article available under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-ND licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). |
Keywords: | Microalgae; Harvesting; Biobased; Bioflocculant; waste |
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) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number BIOTECHNOLOGY AND BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES RESEARCH COUNCIL PHYCBIV-28 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 25 Sep 2020 11:14 |
Last Modified: | 13 Sep 2021 00:38 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier BV |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.seppur.2020.117733 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:165961 |