Cultivation System and Harvesting Techniques in Microalgae Biomass Production

Abstract

Microalgae biomass is one of the very high potentials for the production of the third generation of biofuel. Public awareness of the importance of the environment and the lack of conventional fuel sources has been attracting the interest of researchers in exploring deeper on microalgae biomass production. Two major challenges need to be noted in respect of the microalgae industry is cultivation systems and effective harvesting techniques. Therefore, this review focuses on the main cultivation system and harvesting technique applied to microalgae. Besides that, the main advantages and disadvantages of each system and technique were also discussed further. The most suitable cultivation system is via closed photobioreactor while flocculation technique was preferred to harvest microalgae due to the low-cost method. But, selection of adequate cultivation and harvesting method depends on the characteristic of microalgae and also the value of the end product intends to be produced. Consequently, this review aims to provide information to enhance the development technology for microalgae biomass production in term of cultivation system and harvesting technique