About Michaela
Michaela completed her cycle of studies at the Agricultural University of Athens receiving her Master's degree in Food Science and Human nutrition with her master's thesis exploring yeast growth on by-products of the biodiesel industry in the Food Biotechnology Laboratory. She had the opportunity to study one semester abroad at the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague and conduct an internship in the RnD department of a Belgian bottling company. In ‘real life’, she likes playing basketball, drinking coffee before going to the lab, tasting new food, going for snorkeling during summer and dancing all year round. Her goals are to finally get used to driving a car, get a scuba-diving and a sailing licence, and run 5 km under 30 min. One of her favourite quotes is “ἕν οἶδα ὅτι οὐδὲν οἶδα” (“I know that I know nothing”) from Socrates.
Bubble – Floc – Algal Organic Matter interactions in flotation-based harvesting of microalgae biomass
Michaela is researching Coagulation combined with Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF) for microalgae harvesting at the Analytical and Circular Chemistry group of the University of Hasselt, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Ir. Dries Vandamme. In coagulation, the individual microalgal cells group into larger aggregates via the addition of a coagulant. In DAF, air-saturated water is released at the bottom of the coagulation tank; the drop of pressure creates tiny bubbles. This process aims to achieve collision and attachment of the algal flocs to the air bubbles, resulting in their co-flotation to the solution’s surface. This float or top layer can be later removed via skimming. DAF requires energy mainly in the air saturation step, but the process is fast, not species-specific, does not harm the cells, and is suitable for scaling-up. By integrating a biotechnological perspective, we aim to gain insights into the flotation mechanism and the algal organic matter produced by the microalgae that interact with coagulants and the air bubbles.
