title: Cultivation and energy efficient harvesting of microalgae using thermoreversible sol-gel transition.
abstract: Microalgae represent a promising source of renewable biomass for the production of biofuels and valuable chemicals. However, energy efficient cultivation and harvesting technologies are necessary to improve economic viability. A Tris-Acetate-Phosphate-Pluronic (TAPP) medium that undergoes a thermoreversible sol-gel transition is developed to efficiently culture and harvest microalgae without affecting the productivity as compared to that in traditional culture in a well-mixed suspension. After seeding microalgae in the TAPP medium in a solution phase at 15 °C, the temperature is increased by 7 °C to induce gelation. Within the gel, microalgae are observed to grow in large clusters rather than as isolated cells. The settling velocity of the microalgal clusters is approximately ten times larger than that of individual cells cultured in typical solution media. Such clusters are easily harvested gravimetrically by decreasing the temperature to bring the medium to a solution phase.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, USA.
authors.forename: Bendy
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Estime
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, USA.|Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, USA.|Department of Biology, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, USA.|Syracuse Biomaterials Institute, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, USA.
authors.forename: Dacheng
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, USA.|Department of Physics, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, USA.
authors.forename: Radhakrishna
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sureshkumar
mesh_terms: D018533:Biomass; D003470:Culture Media; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D058086:Microalgae / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism*; D012212:Rheology; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media