You are at: Oilgae Blog.The breakthrough technology in algae harvesting, dewatering,and drying is a model of nature’s liquid moving strategies in organisms. No biological system has anything even remotely close to a functioning centrifuge.
A centrifuge moves the entire mass of water and its contents in order to separate into fractions. This was also true of flocculation, flotation, and other methods to a certain degree because the focus was on moving the algae and not moving the water. A water molecule is 1/33,000 the size of a 10 micron algae. When differential pressure (even excessive gravitational pressure in the form of a water column) is moved to force algal mass and water through a screen, this energy compacts the algal mass into a form that blocks water and impacts algal mass into screen.
So using several of methods to move the water molecules by changing the surface tension, adhesion, cohesion, taking advantage of the meniscus being formed, a capillary action from a compression pull (think artificial Transpirational) allowing absorption and next, use water’s surface area to mass to dramatically improve evaporation (think of a water based paint applied thin and how quick it dries).
Surface tension can be broken by hundreds of ways, however, a class of materials that were patented several years ago called superabsorbent polymer (SAP) fabrics. It is these SAP fabric material types of we call our “cap belt” when put into contact with the bottom of the screen (water meniscus), have the capability to move vast amounts of water without moving the algae because the molecular bonds from water to water are stronger then water to algae, as long as energy applied does not break water’s bonds to itself. The capillary effect and adhesion effect (once wetted, and rung) can be designed to be continuous, just like the screen can be designed to be continuous.
This continuous approach allows for a thin layer of algae to be continuously processed from in solution to dry flake in a distance of four feet at a scalable rate with scalable equipment. In our prototype equipment, the rate exceeds 500 liters per hour on less than 40 watts per hour of run time.
A centrifuge moves the entire mass of water and its contents in order to separate into fractions. This was also true of flocculation, flotation, and other methods to a certain degree because the focus was on moving the algae and not moving the water. A water molecule is 1/33,000 the size of a 10 micron algae. When differential pressure (even excessive gravitational pressure in the form of a water column) is moved to force algal mass and water through a screen, this energy compacts the algal mass into a form that blocks water and impacts algal mass into screen.
So using several of methods to move the water molecules by changing the surface tension, adhesion, cohesion, taking advantage of the meniscus being formed, a capillary action from a compression pull (think artificial Transpirational) allowing absorption and next, use water’s surface area to mass to dramatically improve evaporation (think of a water based paint applied thin and how quick it dries).
Surface tension can be broken by hundreds of ways, however, a class of materials that were patented several years ago called superabsorbent polymer (SAP) fabrics. It is these SAP fabric material types of we call our “cap belt” when put into contact with the bottom of the screen (water meniscus), have the capability to move vast amounts of water without moving the algae because the molecular bonds from water to water are stronger then water to algae, as long as energy applied does not break water’s bonds to itself. The capillary effect and adhesion effect (once wetted, and rung) can be designed to be continuous, just like the screen can be designed to be continuous.
This continuous approach allows for a thin layer of algae to be continuously processed from in solution to dry flake in a distance of four feet at a scalable rate with scalable equipment. In our prototype equipment, the rate exceeds 500 liters per hour on less than 40 watts per hour of run time.
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