Dewatering treatments to increase dry matter content of the brown seaweed, kelp (Laminaria digitata ((Hudson) JV Lamouroux))

Gallagher, Joe A.; Turner, Lesley B.; Adams, Jessica M.M.; Dyer, Philip W.; Theodora, Michael K.

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2016.11.091

Dewatering treatments to increase dry matter content of the brown seaweed, kelp (Laminaria digitata ((Hudson) JV Lamouroux))

Gallagher, Joe A.; Turner, Lesley B.; Adams, Jessica M.M.; Dyer, Philip W.; Theodora, Michael K.

Authors

Joe A. Gallagher

Lesley B. Turner

Jessica M.M. Adams

Professor Philip Dyer p.w.dyer@durham.ac.uk
Professor

Michael K. Theodora

Abstract

Macroalgal water content is an on-going problem for the use of readily accessible seaweeds in sustainable biorefining, including fuel production. Silage is a reduced-water, compactable, easily stored, transportable material. Ensiling could establish a non-seasonal supply of preserved algal biomass, but requires high initial dry matter content to mitigate environmental pollution risks from effluent. This study investigated potential dewatering methods for kelp harvested throughout the year. Treatments included air-drying, osmotic media and acids. Significant interactions between treatment and harvest-time were observed for traits of interest. Fresh weight loss during treatment was composed of changes in water and dry matter content. Air-drying gave reliable increase in final dry matter content; in summer and autumn 30% dry matter content was reached after 24 h. Dilute hydrochloric acid reduced stickiness and rendered material suitable for dewatering by screw-pressing; it may be possible to use the consequent pH reduction to promote efficient preservation.

Citation

Gallagher, J. A., Turner, L. B., Adams, J. M., Dyer, P. W., & Theodora, M. K. (2016). Dewatering treatments to increase dry matter content of the brown seaweed, kelp (Laminaria digitata ((Hudson) JV Lamouroux)). Bioresource Technology, 224, 662-669. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2016.11.091

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Nov 22, 2016
Online Publication Date	Nov 24, 2016
Publication Date	Jan 1, 2016
Deposit Date	Feb 15, 2017
Publicly Available Date	Feb 15, 2017
Journal	Bioresource Technology
Print ISSN	0960-8524
Publisher	Elsevier
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	224
Pages	662-669
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2016.11.091

Files

Published Journal Article (486 Kb)
PDF

Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Copyright Statement
© 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).