The potential use of natural coagulants for microalgae harvesting: a review

Abstract

Microalgae cultivation has received much interest in foods and biofuel production and provides a significant potential option for cleaning the soil, water, and environment from several contaminants. Accordingly, microalgae harvesting becomes essential to separate the solid–liquid microalgae suspension for other green technologies and sustainable processes. Although several physical, chemical, and physiochemical methods have been widely used for microalgae harvesting, their cost, non-environmental residues, and harvesting efficiencies are still questionable. This review summarized and evaluated the performance of different natural coagulants used for harvesting cultivated microalgae. The operational factors and their effect on harvesting efficiency were discussed. Moreover, the current challenges in utilizing several natural coagulants in microalgae harvesting were considered.

Harvesting of Dunaliela Salina at Low Concentrations using Spiral Electrocoagulation (SEC)

“…These characteristics make it challenging to collect microalgae efficiently for industrial applications. Cost factors, environmental residues, and efficiency of microalgae harvesting methods remain a concern for many researchers 9) . Further research is needed to optimize operational parameters, develop new methods, and improve microalgae harvesting techniques' efficiency, feasibility, and effectiveness.…”