Microalgal cell disruption for biofuel development

The production of alternative fuels from microalgae involves lengthy processing steps. Cell disruption is an integral part of the downstream pool of unit operations as it facilitates the release of intracellular products essential for biofuel production. This study investigated the use of high-press...

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Main Authors: Halim, R., Harun, R., Danquah, Michael, Webley, P.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Elsevier 2012
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/45043
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author Halim, R.
Harun, R.
Danquah, Michael
Webley, P.
author_facet Halim, R.
Harun, R.
Danquah, Michael
Webley, P.
author_sort Halim, R.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The production of alternative fuels from microalgae involves lengthy processing steps. Cell disruption is an integral part of the downstream pool of unit operations as it facilitates the release of intracellular products essential for biofuel production. This study investigated the use of high-pressure homogenization, ultrasonication, bead beating, and sulfuric acid treatment as laboratory-scale disruption methods for microalgal cells. The performance of each cell disruption method was evaluated in terms of two key indicators: reduction in the intact cell count and reduction in the average colony diameter. The microalgal strain, Chlorococcum sp., was used throughout the study. The most effective disruption was obtained using high-pressure homogenization (average disruption = 73.8% of initial intact cells) followed by sulfuric acid treatment (average disruption = 33.2% of initial intact cells) and bead beating (average disruption = 17.5% of initial intact cells). Even though ultrasonication failed to disrupt the microalgal cells under the investigated conditions (average disruption = 4.5% of initial intact cells), it still managed to disintegrate cellular colonies.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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publishDate 2012
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-450432017-09-13T14:15:06Z Microalgal cell disruption for biofuel development Halim, R. Harun, R. Danquah, Michael Webley, P. The production of alternative fuels from microalgae involves lengthy processing steps. Cell disruption is an integral part of the downstream pool of unit operations as it facilitates the release of intracellular products essential for biofuel production. This study investigated the use of high-pressure homogenization, ultrasonication, bead beating, and sulfuric acid treatment as laboratory-scale disruption methods for microalgal cells. The performance of each cell disruption method was evaluated in terms of two key indicators: reduction in the intact cell count and reduction in the average colony diameter. The microalgal strain, Chlorococcum sp., was used throughout the study. The most effective disruption was obtained using high-pressure homogenization (average disruption = 73.8% of initial intact cells) followed by sulfuric acid treatment (average disruption = 33.2% of initial intact cells) and bead beating (average disruption = 17.5% of initial intact cells). Even though ultrasonication failed to disrupt the microalgal cells under the investigated conditions (average disruption = 4.5% of initial intact cells), it still managed to disintegrate cellular colonies. 2012 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/45043 10.1016/j.apenergy.2011.08.048 Elsevier restricted
spellingShingle Halim, R.
Harun, R.
Danquah, Michael
Webley, P.
Microalgal cell disruption for biofuel development
title Microalgal cell disruption for biofuel development
title_full Microalgal cell disruption for biofuel development
title_fullStr Microalgal cell disruption for biofuel development
title_full_unstemmed Microalgal cell disruption for biofuel development
title_short Microalgal cell disruption for biofuel development
title_sort microalgal cell disruption for biofuel development
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/45043