title: Exploration on bioflocculation of Nannochloropsis oculata using response surface methodology for biodiesel production.
abstract: Harvesting of algal biomass in biodiesel production involves high energy input and cost incurred process. In order to overcome these problems, bioflocculation process was employed and the efficiency of this process was further improved by the addition of a cationic inducer. In this work marine Bacillus subtilis was used for bioflocculation of Nannochloropsis oculata and ZnCl2 as cationic inducer. This study worked under the principle of divalent cationic bridging (DCB) theory. Under temperature stress and high pH, the bacterium produced exopolysaccharide that bound with microalga Nannochloropsis oculata and flocculated them. A maximum efficiency of 95.43% was observed with the optimised RSM parameters-temperature 30.78°C, pH 10.8, flocculation time 6.7 h, bioflocculant size 0.38 mL, and cationic inducer concentration 0.035 mM. The present investigation focused on the cost effective harvesting of microalga on a larger scale for biodiesel production than using toxic, ecofriendly chemical flocculants.
authors.affiliation: Bioelectrochemical Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar, Tamilnadu 608002, India.
authors.forename: Duraiarasan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Surendhiran
authors.affiliation: Bioelectrochemical Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar, Tamilnadu 608002, India.
authors.forename: Mani
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vijay
mesh_terms: D056804:Biofuels / Q000382:microbiology*; D019149:Bioreactors / Q000382:microbiology*; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000502:physiology; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000502:physiology; D003198:Computer Simulation; D005427:Flocculation; D058086:Microalgae / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*; D008954:Models, Biological
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels