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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Sharon Velasquez OrtaORCiD, Professor Maria Orta Ledesma
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND).
© 2022. This paper evaluates the relation between the efficiency of harvesting microalgae biomass or biomolecules (proteins, lipids and carbohydrates) and the surface activity of the amphiphiles released during the harvesting process. Microalgae cultivated in wastewater was evaluated using a laboratory scale ozone-flotation reactor. Applying the highest biomass concentration (1800 mg/L) and a flow ratio gas–liquid of 3, recovered 79% biomass with a maximum yield of 7.6 mg biomass/mg O3 and a release of biomolecules greater than 70%. Adjusting surface pressures of the harvested samples to integrated Gibbs model indicated that longer ozone than 19 min exposure times caused a decrease in the hydrophobic region of the molecules. This affected the efficiency of the amphiphiles present in the sample, requiring a higher concentration (from 534.72 ± 9.63 mg/L to 1542.45 ± 5.66 mg/L) to reduce the surface tension to the minimum values obtained (45.26 ± 0.73 mN/m). In conclusion, ozone exposure needs be closely monitored to ensure effective biomass and biomolecules separation.
Author(s): Hernandez EV, Monje-Ramirez I, Velasquez-Orta SB, Gracia-Fadrique J, Orta Ledesma MT
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Environmental Technology and Innovation
Year: 2022
Volume: 26
Online publication date: 22/01/2021
Acceptance date: 16/01/2021
Date deposited: 03/03/2022
ISSN (electronic): 2352-1864
Publisher: Elsevier B.V.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eti.2022.102354
DOI: 10.1016/j.eti.2022.102354
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