uring the exponential growth phase, the algal cells have high negative surface charge and are difficult to neutralise, and thus the cells remain dispersed. After reaching the stationary or the declining phase, the negative charge decreases, allowing the cells to aggregate and to form lumps, thereby resulting in a process called auto-flocculation. This phenomenon is associated with elevated pH due to CO2, nitrate and phosphate assimilation [71]. Moreover, auto-flocculation can occur by interactions between algae and bacteria or excreted organic molecules or by simply cutting CO2 supply; this method is less expensive but timeconsuming. In general, culture of microalgae is very stable and auto-flocculation probability is negligible and sometimes misleading. In order to accelerate coagulation, it is necessary to increase the pH by adding a base. The most effective is sodium hydroxide, which induces more than 90% flocculation at pH 11 and requires less quantity (9 mg of NaOH per gram of dry biomass) [71,72]. But on an industrial scale, lime seems to be the most cost-efficient.This mechanism is associated with Mg2 þ from hydrolysed Mg (OH)2, which precipitates attracting with it the negatively charged microalgal cells. Chitosan is also an interesting flocculating agent [73], which showed maximum efficiency at pH 7 with 90% microalgal recovery. Further on, using bioflocculants like Paenibacillus sp. with the presence of a co-flocculant (CaCl2) also showed an efficient flocculation (83%) at pH 11 [74]. Flocculation is sometimes considered as a pre-harvesting step in order to facilitate or complement other harvesting methods like centrifugation or filtration [75,76].4.5.3. Flotation
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