title: Dramatic improvement of membrane performance for microalgae harvesting with a simple bubble-generator plate.
abstract: To overcome fouling issue in membrane-based algae harvesting and thus make an otherwise promising harvesting option more competitive, a bubble-generator plate was developed. According to computational fluid dynamics analysis, the plate generated substantial hydrodynamic power in terms of high pressure, velocity, and shear stress. When installed in a membrane filtration system with membranes of different surface and structural characteristics (one prepared by the phase inversion method, and a commercial one) the bubble-generator was indeed effective in reducing fouling. Without the plate, the much cheaper homemade membrane had the similar performance as the commercial one. Use of the bubble-generator considerably improved the performance of both membranes, and revealed a valuable synergy with the asymmetrical structure of the homemade membrane. This result clearly showed that the ever-problematic fouling could be mitigated in a rather easy manner, and in so doing, that membrane technology could indeed become a practical option for algae harvesting.
authors: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, South Korea.
authors: Taewoon
authors: T
authors: Hwang
authors: Clean Fuel Department Bioenergy Research Group, Korea Institute of Energy Research, 152 Gajeong-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-343, South Korea.
authors: You-Kwan
authors: YK
authors: Oh
authors: Clean Fuel Department Bioenergy Research Group, Korea Institute of Energy Research, 152 Gajeong-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-343, South Korea.
authors: Bohwa
authors: B
authors: Kim
authors: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, South Korea. Electronic address: jihan@kaist.ac.kr.
authors: Jong-In
authors: JI
authors: Han
mesh_terms: D057219:Biofouling / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005374:Filtration / Q000295:instrumentation*; D057446:Hydrodynamics; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D058086:Microalgae / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010539:Permeability
chemical_list: D008567:Membranes, Artificial
keywords: Asymmetric structure; Bubble-generator plate; Computational fluid dynamics; Membrane filtration; Microalgae harvesting