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Experimental Report, Period 9-12/2017, Project: Electrocoagulation Unit for Microalgal Biomass Separation.
Brányiková, Irena ; Vojtěchovský, R. ; Čermáková, Lenka
Production of microalgae in the world is increasing every year, but their use in food, cosmetics, feed and biofuel production is still limited by the high production price and high energy input. The substantial part of the energy costs lies in the separation of algal biomass from the medium, which is most often performed on plate centrifuges. The harvest concentration of algal suspensions in most cultivation systems ranges between just 1-5 g/L. Therefore, to obtain 1 kg of dry biomass, it is necessary to remove 200 to 1000 liters of water (by centrifuging and then drying). This amount of water and thus the energy input can be reduced via flocculation added as a pre-step prior to centrifugation. Electrofloculation is type of floculation, where the flocculant is directly formed by dissolving the electrodes. Suitable electrode material and parameter set enable obtaining of biomass, which is not contaminated by chemical flocculants and meets requirements for food stuff. The main objective of this project is to develop a continuous electroflocculation device suitable for these purposes.\n
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Experimental Plan for the Project: Electrocoagulation Unit for Microalgal Biomass Separation.
Brányiková, Irena ; Vojtěchovský, R. ; Čermáková, Lenka
Electrofloculation (electrocoagulation) of microalgae is a highly complex process involving a number of very complex transport, electrochemical, hydrodynamic and surface phenomena. The description of this process at the level of single mechanisms involved is too complicated and experimentally demanding, fortunately it is not absolutely necessary for the practical application. The electrofloculation was therefore approached by an engineering method that identified the criteria (range) of the desired variables and the main factors that affect them. For these factors, partial factorial experimental plans were designed.
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Photosynthesis Monitoring in Microalgae Mass Cultures
MALAPASCUA, Jose Romel
This Ph.D. thesis deals with principles of microalgae cultivation in laboratory as well as outdoor aquacultures (Chapter 1) using various cultivation systems and photobioreactors (Chapter 2). Case studies illustrate the main research topic as to correlate changes in growth rate with variation of photosynthetic activity, physiological features and biomass composition (Chapter 3). Special attention was paid to elaboration of protocols of chlorophyll a fluorescence techniques for monitoring the physiology and photosynthetic performance of microalgae mass cultures maintained under various growth conditions (Chapter 4).
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Production of beta-glucans by some yeasts and algae
Veselá, Markéta ; Kočí, Radka (referee) ; Márová, Ivana (advisor)
Several yeast strains and microalgae were selected for this diploma thesis. -glucans, lipids, carotenoids, ergosterol and coenzyme Q were determined in selected producers, and the cultivation conditions for yeast strains were optimized to gain enhanced production of -glucans. Microalgae cultivations were carried out according to the instructions of the Collection of Autotrophic organisms (CCALA). Selected microalge strains include Desmodesmus acutus, Dunaliella salina, Arthrospira maxima and Cyanothece sp. Selected yeast species include Rhodotorula glutinis, Cystofilobasidium macerans and Sporidiobolus metaroseus. Edible yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae was cultivated to compare with other yeast strains because of it's verified production of -glucans. -glucans were then determined by the enzymatic kit K-YBGL Megazyme, carotenoids, ergosterol and coenzyme Q were analyzed by HPLC/PDA and fatty acids were analyzed by GC/FID. The best producer of yeast -glucans was R. glutinis and S. metaroseus, and the best conditions for the production of -glucans and other metabolites was the C/N ratio of 70. Within the microalgae species, only -glucan production was observed, the best producer was D. acutus.
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Polyphosphates in microalgae: monitoring of their accumulation and intracellular localization by means of Raman microscopy
Suja, Matyáš ; Mojzeš, Peter (advisor) ; Kočišová, Eva (referee)
Phosphorus is widely used in agriculture, where it promotes the growth of crops and increases the profitability of soil. Together with a growing world population, there is a dramatic increase in consumption of this important element. However, the global phosphate deposits are finite and are expected to be depleted in the next few decades. It is therefore important to find an effective way of recycling, which could be represented by single-celled microscopic algae. Microscopic algae are able to accumulate large quantities of phosphorus from the surrounding environment and to store this phosphorus, among others, in the form of polyphosphates. Polyphosphates are high-energetic biomolecules which are contained in the cells of plant as well as animal kingdom. They play a key role in a vast number of vital processes. Raman microscopy can be applied to study metabolism and distribution of biomolecules at a cellular level without the need of a special preparation of the specimen before the measurement. The subject of this bachelor thesis consists of development of methodologies that are needed for studying the accumulation and intracellular localization of polyphosphates in microalgae by means of Raman microscopy.
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Issues of the algae Chlorella production in flow bioreactors
Jankovičová, Kristína ; Kaštánek,, Petr (referee) ; Svěrák, Tomáš (advisor)
The bachelor's thesis is focused on cultivation of Chlorella microalgae species. Theoretical part deals with microalgae characteristics, their usage and methods of their cultivation. It is focused on the most important growth factors of chlorella and compares findings from earlier studies. Experimental part contains observations of microalgae growth in different environments and behavioural comparison of autotrophic and heterotrophic cultures. Next, the influence of temperature and light intensity on microalgae growth was observed, using different combinations of these factors. Experimental findings were evaluated from gained biomass concentration and absorbance determined by spectrophotometric method.
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