Susanto, H., Fitrianingtyas, M., Kurniawan, L., Rusli, S. and Widiasa, I. N.
Pertanika Journal of Tropical Agricultural Science, Volume 25, Issue 4, October 2017
Keywords: Microalgae harvesting, membrane filtration, flocculation, fouling, microfiltration, ultrafiltration
Published on: 09 Oct 2017
Microalgae (MA) has huge potential use as feedstock for producing biodiesel. However, harvesting of MA is still a major obstacle. This paper presents a performance evaluation of flocculation and membrane processes for harvesting of MA. The experiments were conducted using Chlamydomonas sp., which was cultured in an open pond. Chitosan was used as flocculants, while microfiltration and ultrafiltration membrane were used during filtration using membrane. The results showed that the harvesting efficiency of MA using flocculation was within the range of 74.2-81.2%. The harvesting of MA using membrane processes resulted in efficiency within the range of 86.8-91.1% and around 99% for MF and UF, respectively. The harvesting efficiency of the combination of flocculation and MF was comparable with UF only i.e. ˜99%. The performance of flocculation process was influenced by the concentration of the flocculant, the agitation rate and the agitation time. Flocculation installed before MF membrane improved the resulting normalised flux of microfiltration membrane as well as increased harvesting efficiency.
ISSN 1511-3701
e-ISSN 2231-8542