Low cost Algae harvesting

[Mak]

At very low mixing velocities, the cultures settled very poorly. I think we can speed up the settling by increasing mixing velocities.

[mathu]

I came across this research abstract on “Harvesting of Chlorella vulgaris using a bioflocculant from Paenibacillus sp. AM49”.

Microbial flocculants for harvesting mass cultured Chlorella vulgaris were screened and that from Paenibacillussp. AM49 was identified as the best. The flocculation efficiency of this bioflocculant increased with the pH within a range of pH 5–11 and was 83%, which was higher than the 72% and 78% produced by aluminum sulfate and polyacrylamide, respectively. The highest flocculation efficiency was with 6.8 mm CaCl2 as co-flocculant. The bioflocculant from Paenibacillussp. AM49 can be used effectively to harvest C. vulgaris from large-scale cultures.

http://www.springerlink.com/content/w484052425706091/