利用絮凝进行微藻采收的研究进展

微藻可生产不饱和脂肪酸及色素等多种高附加值产品,同时也可用来生产可再生清洁能源如生物柴油等,具有良好的应用前景。但是,目前微藻细胞的采收成本高居不下,已成为限制微藻生物技术大规模应用的重要因素之一。与其他方法相比,絮凝采收成本低、操作简便,是很有应用前景的采收方法。本文综述了国内外利用化学絮凝、物理絮凝及生物絮凝等方法对不同微藻细胞进行采收的研究,重点对生物絮凝方法进行了总结。利用微生物絮凝剂及微藻细胞的自絮凝进行微藻生物量的回收,是微藻采收技术中环境友好、低成本和行之有效的新方法之一。     

微藻采收技术的研究进展

微藻作为一种有巨大应用前景的生物质资源,在环境保护、废水处理和清洁能源等领域广泛应用。但是微藻采收成本过高严重限制了微藻产业的发展,因此,寻找一种经济、环保、高效的采收技术对促进微藻产业的发展具有十分重要的意义。本文分析了常用微藻采收技术的优缺点,包括离心分离、沉降、过滤、浮选和絮凝技术,重点论述絮凝技术在微藻采收方面的研究进展,以期为微藻高效、低成本采收方案的选择及其研究方向提供参考。     

微藻采收方法的研究进展

微藻的生产过程可以实现能源生产、废水净化和CO2减排的高度耦合,在能源危机日益紧张、环境问题日趋严峻的今天,微藻的开发利用具有重要的研究价值和经济、社会效益。制约微藻产业化的瓶颈问题是采收成本过高,一种经济合理的采收方法不但可以大大降低生产成本,还可以奠定微藻产业化发展的基础。本文对目前应用较为普遍的微藻采收方法进行了介绍,重点阐述了絮凝法采收微藻,以期对微藻的低成本高效率采收以及产业化发展提供帮助。     

微藻絮凝采收的研究进展

微藻采收是微藻产业化应用过程中亟需解决的一个技术难题。在目前的微藻采收方法中,絮凝采收是常用且有效的方法之一。本文总结和分析了近年来有关利用化学絮凝、生物絮凝、物理絮凝等方法进行微藻采收的相关报道,概述了这些絮凝方法的原理和操作方法,并比较了这些絮凝方法在絮凝效率、成本、生物安全性等方面的优缺点,以期为进一步研究和应用絮凝法采收微藻提供理论基础和技术参考。     

藻类胞外聚合物的产生因素及其在污水处理和生物絮凝方面的应用

藻类胞外聚合物(extracellular polymeric substances, EPS)是一种复杂的高分子聚合物,主要由多糖、蛋白质等物质组成。由于EPS具有独特的结构、大的比表面积及含有大量官能团等物理-化学特性,使其在污水处理及微藻生物质的絮凝回收等方面都有着非常重要的作用。本文系统介绍了EPS的组成及特性,重点论述了影响藻类EPS产生的生物因素及非生物因素,如光照、营养盐、pH及温度等,并对EPS在污水处理及生物絮凝方面的应用进行了总结。对藻类EPS产生机制及机理的深入研究有望为微藻提供更广阔的应用前景。     

高效微生物絮凝剂D6对屠宰废水的应用研究

筛选出一株针对屠宰废水有高效絮凝活性的微生物絮凝剂产生菌,并对其所产微生物絮凝剂D6进行单因子絮凝条件优化和正交试验优化得到最佳絮凝条件。絮凝条件包括:微生物絮凝剂D6投加量、pH、金属离子种类、1%CaCl₂投加量。试验中发现碱性环境是微生物絮凝剂D6发挥絮凝活性的前提,表明微生物絮凝剂D6分子链的充分伸展对絮凝作用起决定因素,因此微生物絮凝剂D6的絮凝机理为吸附架桥作用。其最佳絮凝条件为微生物絮凝剂D6的投加量为25mL·L^-1,1%CaCl₂投加量55mL·L^-1,pH为8。在最佳絮凝条件下,絮凝率为96.6%,浊度去除率为97.8%,SS去除率为92.6%。     

微藻代谢工程改造研究进展及展望

微藻种类繁多,分布广泛,很多微藻能通过自身代谢生产油脂、色素、多糖等高价值产品.但通常情况下,微藻生产高价值产品时存在产物含量低以及细胞采收成本高等缺点,限制了微藻产品的实际应用.为了有效开发利用微藻资源,研究如何利用遗传改造技术选育藻株,提高其代谢物含量,并改善微藻采收效率十分重要.近年来,利用代谢工程改造微藻取得了显著进展,此外,微藻基因组编辑及合成生物学研究也不断深入,这些遗传改造技术的不断进步和创新,必将提高微藻重要代谢物的生产效率,以满足人类不断增长的能源、食品和制药工业需求.     

微生物絮凝剂及其絮凝微生物的研究进展

介绍了近几年来国内外微生物絮凝剂和絮凝微生物的一些发展概况,列举了近几年发现的一些微生物絮凝剂的物质属性和组成,重点讨论了胞外絮凝剂和絮凝酵母的絮凝机理,详细综述了絮凝微生物的遗传学方面的研究进展,分析讨论微生物絮凝剂的应用概况,提出微生物絮凝剂的发展趋势和研究方向。     

微藻生物柴油研发态势分析

微藻是光合效率最高的原始植物之一,与农作物相比,单位面积的产率可高出数十倍。微藻生物柴油技术首先包括微藻的筛选和培育,获得性状优良的高含油量藻种,然后在光生物反应器中吸收阳光、CO2等,生成微藻生物质,最后经过采收、加工,转化为微藻生物柴油。完整的微藻生物柴油成套技术链涵盖多个技术环节,是一个复杂的系统工程,包括微藻生物工程技术、微藻高效规模化养殖技术,以及微藻生物质采收、加工与转化技术等。其中,降低生产成本是当前微藻生物柴油研究面临的主要挑战,各国的研究机构为此开展了多方面的研究。     

微藻生物柴油技术的研究现状及展望

微藻生物柴油是一种优良的可再生新能源,对于解决人类面临的能源短缺和全球变暖两大危机具有潜在的重大战略意义。综述了微藻生物柴油的技术流程、油脂含量较高的微藻藻种、微藻生物柴油的最大技术瓶颈、提高微藻油脂总产量的方法、微藻的大规模培养、微藻的采收和微藻生物柴油的制取等方面的研究现状,并对微藻生物柴油未来的核心研究方向提出了初步见解。     

Harvesting of microalgae by bio-flocculation

The high-energy input for harvesting biomass makes current commercial microalgal biodiesel production economically unfeasible. A novel harvesting method is presented as a cost and energy efficient alternative: the bio-flocculation by using one flocculating microalga to concentrate the non-flocculating microalga of interest. Three flocculating microalgae, tested for harvesting of microalgae from different habitats, improved the sedimentation rate of the accompanying microalga and increased the recovery of biomass. The advantages of this method are that no addition of chemical flocculants is required and that similar cultivation conditions can be used for the flocculating microalgae as for the microalgae of interest that accumulate lipids. This method is as easy and effective as chemical flocculation which is applied at industrial scale, however in contrast it is sustainable and cost-effective as no costs are involved for pre-treatment of the biomass for oil extraction and for pre-treatment of the medium before it can be re-used.     

Yeast flocculation: New story in fuel ethanol production

Yeast flocculation has been used in the brewing industry to facilitate biomass recovery for a long time, and thus its mechanism of yeast flocculation has been intensively studied. However, the application of flocculating yeast in ethanol production garnered attention mainly in the 1980s and 1990s. In this article, updated research progress in the molecular mechanism of yeast flocculation and the impact of environmental conditions on yeast flocculation are reviewed. Construction of flocculating yeast strains by genetic approach and utilization of yeast flocculation for ethanol production from various feedstocks were presented. The concept of self-immobilized yeast cells through their flocculation is revisited through a case study of continuous ethanol fermentation with the flocculating yeast SPSC01, and their technical and economic advantages are highlighted by comparing with yeast cells immobilized with supporting materials and regular free yeast cells as well. Taking the flocculating yeast SPSC01 as an example, the ethanol tolerance of the flocculating yeast was also discussed.     

Perspectives on microalgal CO₂-emission mitigation systems--a review

The problem of climate change arising mainly from CO? emission is currently a critical environmental issue. Biofixation using microalgae has recently become an attractive approach to CO? capture and recycling with additional benefits of downstream utilization and applications of the resulting microalgal biomass. This review summarizes the history and strategies of microalgal mitigation of CO? emissions, photobioreactor systems used to cultivate microalgae for CO? fixation, current microalgae harvesting methods, as well as applications of valuable by-products. It is of importance to select appropriate microalgal species to achieve an efficient and economically feasible CO?-emission mitigation process. The desired microalgae species should have a high growth rate, high CO? fixation ability, low contamination risk, low operation cost, be easy to harvest and rich in valuable components in their biomass.     

Optimization of pH induced flocculation of marine and freshwater microalgae via central composite design

Microalgae harvesting via pH induced flocculation along with utilization of recovered medium after flocculation is one of the most economical methods for separating the microalgal biomass in order to reduce the dewatering cost. In this study, optimization of marine and freshwater microalgae flocculation by pH adjustment was investigated via central composite design methodology. One molar of KOH and NaOH solutions were used to increase the pH level of the microalgal culture. Increasing pH value of the medium provided the highest flocculation efficiency up to 92.63 and 86.18% with pH adjusted to 10.5 with KOH and NaOH solutions for marine microalgae Nannochloropsis oculata and freshwater microalgae Chlorella minutissima, respectively. Also, it was revealed that microalgae cells were still alive after flocculation process and their biochemical composition was not changed, and flocculated medium can be used again for the next microalgal production. According to the results, it can be said that this method is cheap and effective, simple to operate and provides the utilization of flocculated medium again.     

Perspectives on microalgal CO2-emission mitigation systems — A review

The problem of climate change arising mainly from CO₂ emission is currently a critical environmental issue. Biofixation using microalgae has recently become an attractive approach to CO₂ capture and recycling with additional benefits of downstream utilization and applications of the resulting microalgal biomass. This review summarizes the history and strategies of microalgal mitigation of CO₂ emissions, photobioreactor systems used to cultivate microalgae for CO₂ fixation, current microalgae harvesting methods, as well as applications of valuable by-products. It is of importance to select appropriate microalgal species to achieve an efficient and economically feasible CO₂-emission mitigation process. The desired microalgae species should have a high growth rate, high CO₂ fixation ability, low contamination risk, low operation cost, be easy to harvest and rich in valuable components in their biomass.     

Effects of bacterial communities on biofuel-producing microalgae: stimulation,inhibition and harvesting

Despite the great interest in microalgae as a potential source of biofuel to substitute for fossil fuels, little information is available on the effects of bacterial symbionts in mass algal cultivation systems. The bacterial communities associated with microalgae are a crucial factor in the process of microalgal biomass and lipid production and may stimulate or inhibit growth of biofuel-producing microalgae. In addition, we discuss here the potential use of bacteria to harvest biofuel-producing microalgae. We propose that aggregation of microalgae by bacteria to achieve >90% reductions in volume followed by centrifugation could be an economic approach for harvesting of biofuel-producing microalgae. Our aims in this review are to promote understanding of the effects of bacterial communities on microalgae and draw attention to the importance of this topic in the microalgal biofuel field.     

The influence of different flocculants on the physiological activity and fucoxanthin production of Phaeodactylum tricornutum

Phaeodactylum tricornutum is an economically important species of microalgae that is widely used in aquaculture, and it is rich in bioactive substances including eicosapentaenoic acid and fucoxanthin. The major bottleneck for industrialization of this species is harvesting. Flocculation is used to harvest microalgae, thus the selection of flocculants is of great importance. In this study, we compared the flocculation effect of four different chemicals (ferric chloride, aluminum sulphate, polyaluminum chloride, and aluminum potassium sulphate) on P. tricornutum. Microexamination showed that ferric and aluminum salts had similar flocculation effects on the algae. Growth and chlorophyll fluorescence measurements showed that P. tricornutum can be re-cultured after flocculation. Pigment analysis showed that flocculation did not result in degradation of fucoxanthin, which suggests that the four flocculants tested may be useful for industrial applications. The results also showed that ferric chloride was the best flocculant for harvesting P. tricornutum when the target product was fucoxanthin, as it had the least influence on the physiological activity of P. tricornutum and it did not lead to degradation of cell components. In contrast, aluminum is poisonous to the nervous system of animals and humans. In addition, the culture medium can be recycled after flocculation by ferric chloride.