Harvesting marine microalgae species by chitosan flocculation

Microalgae and Wastewater Treatment

“…On a small-scale, experiments with hyperconcentrated cultures have shown that these can accelerate the removal of nutrients compared to normal cultures. Algae for such experiments are concentrated by flocculation and settling using a flocculent such as chitosan (Lavoie and De la Nou¨e, 1983;Morales et al, 1985). Cell concentrations of up to 1.9 g dry weight l À1 have been obtained for Oscillatoria sp.…”

Recovery of microalgal biomass and metabolites: process options and economics

“…Chitosan, a polymer of acetylglucosamine, is an edible nontoxic flocculant that has proved effective with various microalgae (Nigam et al, 1980;Lavoie and de la Noue, 1983;Morales et al, 1985;Lubian, 1989). Chitosan is easily manufactured and requires low dosage rates (Richmond and Becker, 1986), but its flocculating power is reduced in salt water.…”

Harvesting of Microalgae by Means of Flocculation

“…A well-known example is chitosan, which is prepared from chitin by de-acetylation of the acetylamine groups, leaving amine groups that are protonated, and thus positively charged at low pH. Chitosan is an effective flocculant for microalgae but is only effective at low pH (Morales et al 1985;Lubián 1989;Rashid et al 2013). Starch that is modified by addition of quaternary ammonium groups is also an effective flocculant and can be used as an alternative for chitosan (Vandamme et al 2010;Gerde et al 2014).…”