Advances in Microalgal Biomass Harvesting: Sustainable Approaches for Biofuel and Biorefinery Applications.

Abstract

As a sustainable energy source and potential petroleum-free fuel, microalgae biomass is gaining popularity. The varied metabolic activities of microalgae species allow the extraction of bioproducts for animal feed, food, nutraceuticals, cosmetics, and biopharmaceuticals. Concentrating and measuring microalgal biomass biochemicals requires a lot of raw materials due to the low biomass-to-liquid ratio. This makes sustainable energy equilibrium in microalgae processing difficult. Thus, microalgae collection is a difficult field that needs more research. This paper presents the latest chemical/physical flocculation, bioflocculation, and electrical-based microalgal biomass harvesting methods. Physical flocculation needs energy and equipment, which may make microalgal biomass collection expensive. However, chemical flocculation, which uses inorganic and organic flocculants, is becoming more successful. This review also discusses biomolecule separation using low-liquefying ionic liquids or salts. This approach allows varied biorefinery theories to value microalgal biomass while maintaining biomolecule structural integrity and activity. The article uses comprehensive methods to examine scale up, industrial application, life cycle analysis problems, and future research prospects in microalgae collection for sustainable biofuel generation.