Flocculation based harvesting processes for microalgae biomass production

Microalgae are a promising new source of biomass that may complement agricultural crops. A major challenge lies in the harvesting of the microalgae, which requires the separation of a low amount of biomass consisting of small individual cells from a large volume of culture medium. Flocculation is seen as a promising low-cost harvesting method for primary concentration. In this presentation, we overview the challenges and possible solutions for flocculating microalgae focussing on three flocculation modes: flocculation using biopolymers, electro-coagulation and reversible flocculation induced by high pH. Secondly, those modes were compared to two reference modes (flocculation using aluminum sulphate and chitosan) in function of their interaction with algal organic matter and floc properties such as settling velocity, floc compaction and floc size.status: publishe