Use of acoustic separation for the separation of hydraulic retention times and harvesting in the production of microalgae

藻类可用于生产一系列生物活性化学物质，从抗氧化剂等营养食品到用于高级制药用途的设计蛋白质。不幸的是，目前的技术还没有发展到可以成功地在工业规模上培养藻类用于商业用途的地步。阻碍发展的关键领域之一是藻类与水的有效分离。目前的方法，如离心机和膜过滤，都是昂贵和能源密集型的。它们还需要用化学品进行复杂的清洁，并需要很大的空间。更令人担忧的是，它们会对藻类细胞产生不利影响，例如会降低生产率并对目标化合物产生不利影响的热力和剪切力。西南中小企业的工业生理学和音速系统公司概述了一种使用下一代技术的新工艺。这一过程将克服所有这些挑战，并将解决工业化生产藻类的关键障碍。

Algae can be used for the production of a huge range of bioactive chemicals from nutraceuticals such as antioxidants, through to designer proteins for advanced pharmaceutical use. Unfortunately technology is currently not developed to the point where algae can be successfully cultured at industrial scales for commercial use. One of the key areas holding back development is efficient separation of the algae from the water. Current methods such as centrifuges and membrane filtration are expensive and energy intensive. They can also require complex cleaning with chemicals and have large space requirements. More concerning they can generate adverse effects on the algal cell, such as heat and shear forces which can reduce productivity and adversely affect target compounds. South West SME’s Industrial Phycology and Sonic Systems have outlined a new process using next generation technology. This process will overcome all of these challenges and will solve the key barrier to producing algae at industrial scales.