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Microalgae harvesting using flocculation and dissolved air flotation: Selecting the right vessel for lab-scale
N R H Rao1, V P Beyer2, R K Henderson3
1Laboratory of Aquatic Biology, KU Leuven, Kulak Kortrijk, 8500 Kortrijk, Belgium; Sustainable Materials Lab, Department of Chemical Engineering, KU Leuven, Kulak Kortrijk, 8500 Kortrijk, Belgium.
Abstract:
Flocculation combined with dissolved air flotation (DAF) is a promising technology for harvesting microalgae; therefore, optimisation of flocculant-DAF operating conditions are frequently explored in laboratory experiments. DAF systems have jars of differing volumes, height to diameter ratios, shapes and materials used to manufacture the jars; thus, the harvesting efficiency (η) may differ between these jars. The aim was to systematically compare η between different types of benchtop DAF jars. Evaluation of 30 different types of DAF jars revealed that η was not influenced by the volume of the jars, but was impacted by the height to diameter ratio, with optimal η at a ratio ranging between 1.6 and 2.05. There was no difference in η between cylindrical and cuboid jars, but jars made of hydrophobic (polypropylene) plastic resulted in a lower η. Overall, these results are useful to guide the design of lab-scale DAF microalgae harvesting experiments.
