Curtin University Homepage
  • Library
  • Help
    • Admin

    espace - Curtin’s institutional repository

    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.
    View Item 
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Research Publications
    • View Item
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Research Publications
    • View Item

    Dewatering of microalgal culture for biodiesel production: Exploring polymer flocculation and tangential flow filtration

    Access Status
    Fulltext not available
    Authors
    Danquah, Michael
    Ang, L.
    Uduman, N.
    Moheimani, N.
    Forde, G.
    Date
    2009
    Type
    Journal Article
    
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Citation
    Danquah, M. and Ang, L. and Uduman, N. and Moheimani, N. and Forde, G. 2009. Dewatering of microalgal culture for biodiesel production: Exploring polymer flocculation and tangential flow filtration. Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology. 84 (7): pp. 1078-1083.
    Source Title
    Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology
    DOI
    10.1002/jctb.2137
    ISSN
    0268-2575
    School
    Curtin Sarawak
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/23012
    Collection
    • Curtin Research Publications
    Abstract

    Background: Conventional biodiesel production relies on trans-esterification of lipids extracted from vegetable crops. However, the use of valuable vegetable food stocks as raw material for biodiesel production makes it an unfeasibly expensive process. Used cooking oil is a finite resource and requires extra downstream processing, which affects the amount of biodiesel that can be produced and the economics of the process. Lipids extracted from microalgae are considered an alternative raw material for biodiesel production. This is primarily due to the fast growth rate of these species in a simple aquaculture environment. However, the dilute nature of microalgae culture puts a huge economic burden on the dewatering process especially on an industrial scale. This current study explores the performance and economic viability of chemical flocculation and tangential flow filtration (TFF) for the dewatering of Tetraselmis suecicamicroalgae culture. Results: Results show that TFF concentrates the microalgae feedstock up to 148 times by consuming 2.06 kWh m-3 of energy while flocculation consumes 14.81 kWhm-3 to concentrate the microalgae up to 357 times. Economic evaluation demonstrates that even though TFF has higher initial capital investment than polymer flocculation, the payback period for TFF at the upper extreme ofmicroalgae revenue is ~1.5 years while that of flocculation is ~3 years. Conclusion: These results illustrate that improved dewatering levels can be achieved more economically by employing TFF. The performances of these two techniques are also compared with other dewatering techniques. © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry.

    Related items

    Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

    • Marine microalgae flocculation and focused beam reflectance measurement
      Uduman, N.; Qi, Y.; Danquah, Michael; Hoadley, A. (2010)
      The production of biodiesel from fast growing and lipid containing marine microalgal species is sustainably and economically more promising than fresh water microalgae. However, like fresh water microalgae, the process ...
    • Microalgae dewatering: Technology advancement using electrocoagulation
      Uduman, N.; Danquah, Michael; Hoadley, A. (2013)
      With growing sustainable development and environmental protection concerns, it islogical that renewable fuels are becoming more important. Biodiesel is an alternative topetroleum based transport fuels and it has many ...
    • Technoeconomic analysis of an integrated microalgae photobioreactor, biodiesel and biogas production facility
      Harun, R.; Davidson, M.; Doyle, M.; Gopiraj, R.; Danquah, Michael; Forde, G. (2011)
      As fossil fuel prices increase and environmental concerns gain prominence, the development of alternative fuels from biomass has become more important. Biodiesel produced from microalgae is becoming an attractive alternative ...
    Advanced search

    Browse

    Communities & CollectionsIssue DateAuthorTitleSubjectDocument TypeThis CollectionIssue DateAuthorTitleSubjectDocument Type

    My Account

    Admin

    Statistics

    Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

    Follow Curtin

    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 

    CRICOS Provider Code: 00301JABN: 99 143 842 569TEQSA: PRV12158

    Copyright | Disclaimer | Privacy statement | Accessibility

    Curtin would like to pay respect to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members of our community by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which the Perth campus is located, the Whadjuk people of the Nyungar Nation; and on our Kalgoorlie campus, the Wongutha people of the North-Eastern Goldfields.