Monday, April 19, 2010
4-08

Effect of cell rupturing methods on the drying characteristics of microalgae

Thiru Viswanathan, Sudhagar Mani, and Senthil Chinnasamy. Biological and Agricultural Engineering, University of Georgia, Driftmier Engineering Center, Athens, GA 30602

Microalgae are novel feedstocks for producing fuels, energy and chemicals. Algae should be mass produced, harvested and processed at low-cost to make algae biofuels technology economically viable. Development of a low-cost and commercial-scale microalgae based biorefinery has several technical challenges and opportunities for both scientists and engineers to solve. In this study, we investigated the drying characteristics of a robust consortium of microalgae cultivated in a raceway pond. Drying of microalgal slurry is an energy intensive process. However, it enhances shelf life, facilitates easier transport and helps in improving the extraction of lipids and other value added compounds. Understanding the drying behavior of microalgae is critical in designing a low-cost drying system for renewable biomass supply. Our previous study suggested that drying rate of microalgae at various drying temperatures was relatively slow. In this study, an attempt was made to increase the drying rate by rupturing algal cells through autoclaving, french pressure cell, acid treatment and sonication. Ruptured cells were then dried in thin-layer at 30, 50, 70 & 90oC to evaluate the drying characteristics of algal consortium. Experimental drying data was used to estimate the drying constant and moisture diffusivity parameters and evaluate the effect of cell rupturing methods on drying.

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