Using Ferric Sulfate, Sodium Hydroxide, and Chitosan to Harvest Marine Microalgae Chlorella Vulgaris and Recycling the Culture Medium

Jinling Cai,Fachun Guan,Yu Wang,Ligang Hou,Xinzhi Zhang,Chenchen Feng

doi:10.2139/ssrn.3751275

Abstract

Using Ferric Sulfate, Sodium Hydroxide, and Chitosan to Harvest Marine Microalgae Chlorella Vulgaris and Recycling the Culture Medium

Highlights

Microalgae are unicellular microscopic organisms that perform oxygenic photosynthesis
The results showed that the tested flocculants can efficiently harvest C. vulgaris
Among the three flocculants tested, chitosan was ideal owing to its high efficiency, low dosage requirement, short harvesting time, and reutilization of culture medium

Summary

Introduction

Microalgae are unicellular microscopic organisms that perform oxygenic photosynthesis. Microalgae are sunlight-driven, fast growing cell factories that are being explored for the synthesis of lipids, proteins, and various high-value products, including docosahexaenoic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid, lutein, astaxanthin, β-carotene, and phycocyanin (Khan &Fu 2019, Raslavicius et al 2018). These organisms can be potentially used for commercial production of biofuel (e.g., biodiesel, bioethanol and biogas), human and animal nutrition, pharmacy, and cosmetics, fine chemicals and can act as a tool for carbon dioxide bioremediation (Zhu et al 2019, Zhu et al 2017). With increasing focus on “organic” and “natural” products, microalgal biotechnology is being increasingly applied in animal feed and nutraceutical markets, which have an annual value of $31.3 billion and $198.7 billion as of 2016, and are projected to grow to $34.2 billion and $285.0 billion in 2021, respectively (Elder 2017, Pandal &Zachwieja 2017)

Methods

Results

Conclusion