Research
| Title： | An effective process of harvesting Chlorella sp. biomass for bioresource by rapid flocculation in a helical tube |
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| First author： | Lin, Zhe; Li, Chengxuan; Liu, Jiaheng; Yang, Zhili; Zhang, Haiyang |
| Journal： | DESALINATION AND WATER TREATMENT |
| Years： | 2021 |
| DOI： | 10.5004/dwt.2021.27044 |
| Abstract： | An effective flocculation technique was developed for harvesting microalgal biomass, i.e., Chlorella 64.01, by using a home-made helical tube. The flow field characteristics in the tubes were studied by a computational fluid dynamic method. About 90% of cell recovery was achieved using 0.12 g/L diluted algal solution with an 18-s flocculation and 15 min sedimentation. The harvesting efficiency was significantly affected by the flow velocity. For a helical tube with 8 mm diameter, the optimal velocity was found to be 0.83 m/s to flocculate the microalgae. The helix diameter may have an impact on the flocculation due to the secondary flow intensity, and the 30-cm diameter was found to be a suitable choice. The residence time also plays a role in the recovery process as a competing effect between agglomeration and dissociation. Flocculation in a helical tube was proved to be a rapid and an effective approach for harvesting microalgae. |
