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Additive-free harvesting of oleaginous phagotrophic microalga by oil and air flotation

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Abstract

A unique oleaginous phagotrophic microalga Ochromonas danica is poised for effective lipid production from waste. Cell harvesting and dewatering are major costs in making algae-based products. In this work an effective additive-free harvesting method was developed, taking advantage of O. danica’s comparatively more hydrophobic surface and larger size. The algal cells’ partitioning to oil/water interface was evaluated. Recovery by flotation with waste cooking oil was optimized using an L-9 Taguchi orthogonal-array design. Further, additive-free cell collection and concentrating by air flotation was studied for the effects of both physical factors (column dimension, air–stone pore size, sample-to-column volume ratio) and culture properties (pH, culture growth stage, cell concentration, and pure versus impure cultures). The optimized process consistently achieved >90 % recovery in a single stage. 98+ % recovery could be achieved when starting concentrations were >108 cells/ml, or potentially using a two- or multi-stage process for diluter cultures.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Ohio Water Development Authority (Grant number 5300). Dr. Donald Ott (Department of Biology, The University of Akron) assisted in microscopic examination. Mr. Jack Gillespie fabricated the air flotation columns. Several coworkers made contributions: Dr. Qin Zhang and Mr. Jacob Kohl established many of the experimental procedures; Dr. Zhongye Lin prepared the pure culture sample by high-density fermentation; and Dr. Cong Li maintained the continuous-flow process from which the impure culture samples were collected.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Akron, Akron, OH, 44325, USA

    Majid Hosseini, Haley A. Starvaggi & Lu-Kwang Ju

  2. Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, 10 E. Firestone Blvd., Akron, OH, 44317, USA

    Haley A. Starvaggi

Authors
  1. Majid Hosseini
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  2. Haley A. Starvaggi
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  3. Lu-Kwang Ju
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Correspondence to Lu-Kwang Ju.

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Hosseini, M., Starvaggi, H.A. & Ju, LK. Additive-free harvesting of oleaginous phagotrophic microalga by oil and air flotation. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 39, 1181–1190 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-016-1594-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-016-1594-9

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