Biodiesel production from algal biomass is widely considered a sustainable alternative to petroleum fuels, especially in the transportation sector. However, the high energy consumption associated with the harvesting phase poses a significant impediment to the substantial commercialization of algal biodiesel. Centrifugation is among those harvesting methods that have a high efficiency close to 100% but can consume more energy than it produces. This review aims to address possible solutions for the issue of the high energy cost of centrifugation as an efficient harvesting technique. In addition, a detailed overview of the potential types of centrifugation that can be used to harvest microalgae with their pros and cons is provided. The most prevalent centrifugal devices that have been identified to be effectively useful to harvest algal biomass include disc-stack centrifuge, solid-bowl centrifuge, hydrocyclone, tubular centrifuge, and multi-chamber centrifuge. Overall, the analysis showed that centrifugation alone is not suitable for the harvesting of microalgae for biodiesel production. Nevertheless, coupling centrifugation with other harvesting technologies, e.g. with flocculation, as a primary pre-concentration step, can increase the energy output significantly thus, reducing the production cost.

Harvesting of microalgae by centrifugation for biodiesel production: A review

Sustainability, at present, is a prominent component in the development of production systems that aim to provide the future energy and material resources. Microalgae are a promising feedstock; however, the sustainability of algae-based production systems is still under debate. Commercial market volumes of algae-derived products are still narrow. The extraction and conversion of primary metabolites to biofuels requires cultivation at large scales; cost-effective methods are therefore highly desirable. This work presents a complete and up to date review on sustainability analysis of various microalgae production scenarios, including techno-economic, environmental, and social impacts, both in large-scale plants for bioenergy production and in medium-scale cultivars intended for the production of high added-value chemicals. The results show that further efforts in algal-based research should be directed to improving the productivity, the development of multi product scenarios, a better valorization of coprod...

Sustainability Analysis of Microalgae Production Systems: A Review on Resource with Unexploited High-Value Reserves.

Microalgae have shown tremendous potentials as a feedstock for biofuel productions. Nevertheless, microalgae utilization is not economically sustainable mainly due to the high cost of harvesting. Among existing technologies, mechanical-based harvesting methods are considered the most effective means of microalgae recovery because these methods are highly reliable in separating suspended cultures from the growth medium, and they require no additives. To further advance these technologies in broader areas, a comprehensive review that covers the performance, limitations, and associated costs of these methods is needed. This review presents an inclusive assessment of all mechanical-based methods, particularly centrifugation and filtration, with a complete evaluation of their economic facets. The mechanical-based methods are used as a single-step harvesting process or as a sequence of operations for increased harvesting efficiency. This study reveals that centrifugation offers the utmost cell removal efficiency in a timely manner while having the highest capital and operational cost demands (2.18 $ k g produced oil). Conversely, the sedimentation process is comparatively inexpensive (0.3 $ k g produced oil) and is ideal as the initial step to reduce the load on the following steps, although it is a lengthy process. Flotation has to be utilized in conjunction with filtration to complete cell removal, and it may not be suitable for all agal cultures due to the necessity of chemical additives. The use of these additives essentially increases the maintenance requirements. • An inclusive assessment of all mechanical-based methods for microalgae harvesting is presented. • Economic facets of all mechanical-based methods are discussed. • Centrifugation offers the utmost cell removal efficiency while having the highest cost demands. • Sedimentation is comparatively inexpensive and ideal as a preliminary step to increase concentration. 

A review on mechanical-based microalgae harvesting methods for biofuel production

Study of landfill leachate as a sustainable source of water and nutrients for algal biofuels and bioproducts using the microalga Picochlorum oculatum in a novel scalable bioreactor.

Dilute algae are often grown in raceways or bioreactors by photosynthesis using carbon dioxide in flue gas. After being harvested, algae oil must be extracted before being transesterified to biodiesel. This process, which generates a carbon-neutral, renewable, liquid fuel, has been shown to be competitive with other liquid fuel sources (Silva et al., 2014). Herein, we introduce the use of carbon dioxide microbubbles to lyse algae cell walls, releasing triglyceride oils, combined with their transesterification using methanol in a single vessel. To obtain more reliable multiphase equilibrium calculations to predict the phase distribution (often vapor-liquid-liquid), we use the SAFT equation-of-state (the latest PC-SAFT in ASPEN PLUS and gSAFT in gPROMS) with new experimental data, where necessary. This permits the use of an extended kinetic model to compute biodiesel production rates. At lower temperatures and intermediate pressures, carbon dioxide causes methanol to dissolve in the triglyceride phase and triglyceride to dissolve in the methanol phase, increasing the transesterification reaction rate. This brief paper describes the status of our research without providing the detailed model and results.

CO2 process intensification of algae oil extraction to biodiesel

National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bio-Products Final Technical Report

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National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bio-Products Final Technical Report