Aminoclay-induced humic acid flocculation for efficient harvesting of oleaginous Chlorella sp

• Published in: Bioresource technology Vol. 153; pp. 365 - 369
• Main Authors: Lee, Young-Chul, Oh, Seo Yeong, Lee, Hyun Uk, Kim, Bohwa, Lee, So Yeun, Choi, Moon-Hee, Lee, Go-Woon, Park, Ji-Yeon, Oh, You-Kwan, Ryu, Taegong, Han, Young-Kyu, Chung, Kang-Sup, Huh, Yun Suk
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.02.2014; Elsevier
• Subjects: Aluminum Silicates - pharmacology; Aminoclay; Biodiesel; Biological and medical sciences; Cationic; Chlorella - drug effects; Chlorella - growth & development; Flocculating; Flocculation; Flocculation - drug effects; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Harvesting; Humic acid; Humic acids; Humic Substances - analysis; Iron - pharmacology; Kinetics; Lipids - chemistry; Magnesium - pharmacology; Microalgae; Nanoparticles; Ponds; Waste water; Aminoclay; Microalgae; Flocculation; Harvesting; Humic acid; Chlorella; Oil; Chlorophyta; Algae; Alga; Microorganism; Chlorophyceae
• ISSN: 0960-8524; 1873-2976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2013.11.103

•Aminoclay-induced humic acid flocculation (AC-HA) was investigated.•AC-HA showed for efficient harvesting of oleaginous microalgae.•AC-HA played a type of network in capturing microalgal cells.•Flocculation approach can be utilized for microalgae flocculation. Biofuels (biodiesel) production from oleaginous microalgae has been intensively studied for its practical applications within the microalgae-based biorefinement process. For scaled-up cultivation of microalgae in open ponds or, for further cost reduction, using wastewater, humic acids present in water-treatment systems can positively and significantly affect the harvesting of microalgae biomass. Flocculation, because of its simplicity and inexpensiveness, is considered to be an efficient approach to microalgae harvesting. Based on the reported cationic aminoclay usages for a broad spectrum of microalgae species in wide-pH regimes, aminoclay-induced humic acid flocculation at the 5g/L aminoclay loading showed fast floc formation, approximately 100% harvesting efficiency, which was comparable to the only-aminoclay treatment at 5g/L, indicating that the humic acid did not significantly inhibit the microalgae harvesting behavior. As for the microalgae flocculation mechanism, it is suggested that cationic nanoparticles decorated on macromolecular matters function as a type of network in capturing microalgae.