Vibrating membrane filtration as improved technology for microalgae dewatering

Microalgae as a potential source for biodiesel production: techniques, methods, and other challenges

“…Harvesting biomass is essential for mass production of biodiesel from microalgae. The major harvesting techniques applied include centrifugation, flocculation, chemical coagulation, filtration and screening, gravity sedimentation, flotation, and electrophoresis techniques .…”

Harvesting of microalgae within a biorefinery approach: A review of the developments and case studies from pilot-plants

“…During the filtration of microalgae, membrane fouling may occur as a result of pore blocking, cake formation and adsorption of gel foulants such as EOM. Fouling reduction strategies include backflushing [119,124], addition of coagulants [116,125], membrane surface modification [124,126], dynamic filtration [113], and shear enhancement [127][128][129]. The use of polymeric and ceramic membranes has been reported across a variety of pore sizes and microalgae species, with a clear preference towards polymeric membranes possibly owing to their cost effectiveness.…”

Dynamic microfiltration with a perforated disk for effective harvesting of microalgae

“…Moreover, total costs were lower for dynamic filtration than for crossflow filtration because the additional costs associated with electricity for rotation in a dynamic system were less than those for equipment maintenance and membrane replacement in a cross-flow system [24]. Compared with cross-flow filtration, large-scale vibratory dynamic microfiltration exhibits higher flux and lower fouling [25,26]. Dynamic microfiltration with a rotational disk on the membrane surface was found to achieve a two-fold higher flux than was possible with crossflow filtration [27].…”