Assessing the effects of operating parameters on flocculation of Chlorella vulgaris using bioflocculants extracted from miscellaneous waste biomass

Abstract

Harvesting of microalgae is one of the main challenges in the production of biodiesel due to the small cell size of microalgae cells. Chemical flocculants have been generally used in the harvesting of microalgae, but they are harmful to the environment and relatively costly. Therefore, the utilization of waste biomass in producing bioflocculants is the current research niche to introduce environmental-friendly harvesting method and to minimize the cost of biodiesel production. Thus, in the current work, flocculation Chlorella vulgaris using mild acid-extracted bioflocculants from miscellaneous waste biomass (cockle shell, peanut shell and banana peel) were conducted by varying the pH values, the dosage of bioflocculants and temperatures. Cockle shell bioflocculant demonstrated the best flocculation performance, with highest flocculation efficiency of 85.2% compared to the peanut shell bioflocculant with flocculation efficiency of 37% and banana peel bioflocculant with flocculation efficiency of 16.3%. The optimum flocculation conditions for cockle shell bioflocculant were determined as follow: pH 9, bioflocculant dosage of 140mg/L and temperature of 30oC. The findings herein presented practical applicability of bioflocculants extracted from cockle shell for safe, rapid and inexpensive microalgae harvesting.