Article
Evaluation of Moringa oleifera seed flour as a flocculating agent for potential biodiesel producer microalgae
Registro en:
TEIXEIRA, Cláudia Maria Luz Lapa; KIRSTEN, Fabiana Vasconcelos; TEIXEIRA, Pedro Celso Nogueira. Evaluation of Moringa oleifera seed flour as a flocculating agent for potential biodiesel producer microalgae. J Appl Phycol, v.24, p.557–563, 2012.
0921-8971
10.1007/s10811-011-9773-1
1573-5176
Autor
Teixeira, Cláudia Maria Luz Lapa
Kirsten, Fabiana Vasconcelos
Teixeira, Pedro Celso Nogueira
Resumen
Microalgal biofuel alternatives have been hindered
by their cost and energy intensive production. In the
microalgal harvesting process, the intermediate step of flocculation
shows potential in drastically reducing the need for
costly centrifugation processes. Moringa oleifera seeds,
which have been used for water treatment due to their high
flocculation potential, low cost and low toxicity, are presented
in this paper as strong candidate for flocculating
Chlorella vulgaris, a microalgae with high biodiesel production
potential. Early results of our group showed a very
high flocculation (around 85% of biomass recovery). The
aim of this work was to investigate the influence of Moringa
oleifera seed flour concentration, sedimentation time and
pH on the flocculation efficiency. Cell suspensions treated
with Moringa seed flour (1 g L-1) had their flocculation
significantly increased with the rise of pH, reaching 89%
of flocculation in 120 min at pH 9.2. Sedimentation time of
120 min and a concentration of 0.6 g L-1 proved to be ample
for substantial flocculation efficiency. In spite of the need
for more research to ensure the economic viability and
sustainability of this process, these results corroborate
Moringa oleifera seeds as a strong candidate as a bioflocculant
for Chlorella vulgaris cells and indicate optimal pH
range of its action. 2030-01-01