TY - JOUR
T1 - Electro-separation of microalgal culture from wastewater
AU - Rafiee, Poorya
AU - Tong, Yen Wah
AU - Hosseini, Maryam
AU - Ebrahimi, Sirous
N1 - Accepted Author Manuscript
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - For further applications of microalgae such as bio-products, microalgal harvesting from its culture medium (e.g. wastewater) must be studied. This becomes more essential when investigating whether or not cells can stay viable to be recycled into the system. Microalgae culture, wastewater, and a mixture of both were separately electrocoagulated at wastewater Chemical Oxygen Demand ranging 66–2700 mg.l-1 and biomass dry weights between 1 and 8 g.l-1. The mixed culture contained species of C. Vulgaris, S. Obliquus, B. Braunii, B. Sudeticus, and A. Falcatus, since mixed culture technique can reduce the expenses in industrial scales by eliminating the costly sterilization strategies necessary to avoid contamination. The mixed samples were successfully separated with the efficiencies between 44-87% and 70–80% at different Chemical Oxygen Demand and biomass dry weights, respectively. In addition, it was shown that growth elements of carbon and nitrogen, although at lower rates, were consumed confirming the viability of the cells after electrocoagulation. The consumption rates for electrocoagulated samples were smaller than non-electrocoagulated samples only by 16, 12, and 31% in carbon, nitrate and ammonium concentrations, respectively. According to the obtained results electrical separation of microalgae could effectively harvest microalgae from wastewater without affecting the viability of the biomass.
AB - For further applications of microalgae such as bio-products, microalgal harvesting from its culture medium (e.g. wastewater) must be studied. This becomes more essential when investigating whether or not cells can stay viable to be recycled into the system. Microalgae culture, wastewater, and a mixture of both were separately electrocoagulated at wastewater Chemical Oxygen Demand ranging 66–2700 mg.l-1 and biomass dry weights between 1 and 8 g.l-1. The mixed culture contained species of C. Vulgaris, S. Obliquus, B. Braunii, B. Sudeticus, and A. Falcatus, since mixed culture technique can reduce the expenses in industrial scales by eliminating the costly sterilization strategies necessary to avoid contamination. The mixed samples were successfully separated with the efficiencies between 44-87% and 70–80% at different Chemical Oxygen Demand and biomass dry weights, respectively. In addition, it was shown that growth elements of carbon and nitrogen, although at lower rates, were consumed confirming the viability of the cells after electrocoagulation. The consumption rates for electrocoagulated samples were smaller than non-electrocoagulated samples only by 16, 12, and 31% in carbon, nitrate and ammonium concentrations, respectively. According to the obtained results electrical separation of microalgae could effectively harvest microalgae from wastewater without affecting the viability of the biomass.
KW - Electrocoagulation
KW - Harvest
KW - Microalgae
KW - Mixed culture
KW - Wastewater
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85074126883&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.bcab.2019.101402
DO - 10.1016/j.bcab.2019.101402
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85074126883
SN - 1878-8181
VL - 22
JO - Biocatalysis and Agricultural Biotechnology
JF - Biocatalysis and Agricultural Biotechnology
M1 - 101402
ER -