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Effect of microalgae cell composition and size on responsiveness to ultrasonic harvesting

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Abstract

Ultrasonic harvesting could reduce the energy consumption and costs associated with separating microalgae from growth media. The responsiveness of microalgae cells to an ultrasonic standing wave depends on the cell radius and acoustic contrast factor (ACF). The ACF can vary as cell composition (e.g. lipid, protein, carbohydrate content) varies depending on the algae strain, cultivation conditions, and growth stage. Two independent experimental methods were used to characterize the ACF of three algae ;strains—Nannochloropsis salina, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, and Tetraselmis chuii—as a function of dynamic cellular composition over 9- to 14-day growth periods. For N. salina, lipid content increased from 25 ± 1% to 33 ± 1% ash-free dry weight (AFDW) and ACF decreased by 46% (from 0.041 ± 0.002 to 0.022 ± 0.002) between growth days 3 and 10. For C. reinhardtii, lipid content increased from 26 ± 1% to 40 ± 1% AFDW and ACF decreased by 33% (from 0.051 ± 0.013 to 0.034 ± 0.006) between growth days 3 and 9. For T. chuii, lipid content and ACF remained stable (~ 10% AFDW and ~ 0.3) over the growth period. ACF decreased as lipid content increased because lipids have a negative ACF in the growth media; however, cell size had a greater impact on cell responsiveness because the ratio of the acoustic radiation force to the drag force is proportional to cell radius squared.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge Kara Gustafson and Micah Bush for their contributions in completing the experiments and Esteban Hincapié Gómez for providing consultation on test protocols. None of the sponsors were involved in the design of the methods used to measure acoustic contrast factor; the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; writing of the article; or the decision to submit the article for publication.

Funding

The authors AJA, JT and AJM received funding support from the US Department of Energy (grant DE-EE0007089).

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  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Colorado State University, 1374 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA

    Alyssa J. Aligata, Jessica Tryner, Jason C. Quinn & Anthony J. Marchese

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  1. Alyssa J. Aligata
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  2. Jessica Tryner
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Correspondence to Anthony J. Marchese.

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Aligata, A.J., Tryner, J., Quinn, J.C. et al. Effect of microalgae cell composition and size on responsiveness to ultrasonic harvesting. J Appl Phycol 31, 1637–1649 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-018-1682-0

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