Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Settling And Bioflocculation Of Two Species Of Algae Used In Wastewater Treatment And Algae Biomass Production, Derek Manheim, Yarrow M. Nelson

Yarrow Nelson

The settling and bioflocculation of two strains of algae were investigated in the laboratory to provide insights to help improve algae settling in large-scale, algae-based wastewater treatment systems with simultaneous algae biofuel production. Energyefficient algae harvesting is a requirement for cost effective production of biofuels from algae, but algae harvesting usually requires energy-intensive methods such as centrifugation, filtration or dissolved air flotation. Bioflocculation using bacteriallyderived exudates is promising, but its use in high-rate algae pond (HRAP) wastewater systems has not yielded consistently reliable settling. To improve our understanding of the complex interactions between mixed cultures of algae and bacteria, the …