Self-Flocculation as an Efficient Method to Harvest Microalgae: A Mini-Review
Tianrui Li, Jiangjun Hu, Liandong Zhu
Abstract
The development of clean and renewable biofuels has been of wide concern on the topic of energy and environmental issues. As a kind of biomass energy with great application prospects, microalgae have many advantages and are used in the fields of environmental protection and biofuels as well as food or feed production for humans and animals. However, the high cost of microalgae harvesting is the main bottleneck of industrial production on a large scale. Self-flocculation is a cost-efficient and promising method for harvesting microalgal biomass. This article briefly describes the current commonly used technology for microalgae harvesting, focusing on the research progress of self-flocculation. This article explores the relative mechanisms and influencing factors of self-flocculation and discusses a proposal for the integration of algae cultivation and harvesting as well as the co-cultivation of algae and bacteria in an effort to provide a reference for microalgae harvesting with high efficiency and low cost.