能源微藻采收及油脂提取技术

Microalgae, with the merits of environmental adaptability, high photosynthetic efficiency and high lipid content, have become one of the most promising raw materials for bio-fuels production, especially for the biodiesel production. In this paper, the advances on technology for microalgae harvesting and lipid extraction are reviewed worldwide. Firstly, several methods such as flocculation, centrifugation and filtration, as well as their mechanisms and applications are introduced for microalgae recovery. The practical lipid extraction technologies including organic solvent, supercritical and subcritical fluid are then evaluated based on their operation conditions and energy consumption. In particular, a novel method of in-situ lipid milking is introduced to allow synchronous culture and lipid extraction of microalgae. Finally, the main problems within the downstream processing of algal oil are summarized and the possible solutions to produce cost-efficient algal biodiesel are proposed.