From the cell to the photobioreactor and to the industrial exploitation of microalgae, through the controlled experiments and modelling.

The use of a hydrated phosphonium ionic liquid, [P(CH₂OH)₄]Cl, for the extraction of microalgæ lipids for biodiesel production, was evaluated using two microalgæ species, Chlorella vulgaris and Nannochloropsis oculata. The ionic liquid extraction was compared to the conventional Soxhlet, and Bligh & Dyer, methods, giving the highest extraction efficiency in the case of C. vulgaris, at 8.1%. The extraction from N. oculata achieved the highest lipid yield for Bligh & Dyer (17.3%), while the ionic liquid extracted 12.8%. Nevertheless, the ionic liquid extraction showed high affinity to neutral/saponifiable lipids, resulting in the highest fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs)-biodiesel yield (4.5%) for C. vulgaris. For N. oculata, the FAMEs yield of the ionic liquid and Bligh & Dyer extraction methods were similar (>8%), and much higher than for Soxhlet (<5%). The ionic liquid extraction proved especially suitable for lipid extraction from wet biomass, giving even higher extraction yields than from dry biomass, 14.9% and 12.8%, respectively (N. oculata). Remarkably, the overall yield of FAMEs was almost unchanged, 8.1% and 8.0%, for dry and wet biomass. The ionic liquid extraction process was also studied at ambient temperature, varying the extraction time, giving 75% of lipid and 93% of FAMEs recovery after thirty minutes, as compared to the extraction at 100 °C for one day. The recyclability study demonstrated that the ionic liquid was unchanged after treatment, and was successfully reused. The ionic liquid used is best described as [P(CH₂OH)₄]Cl·2H₂O, where the water is not free, but strongly bound to the ions.

International audienceThis paper deals with gas-liquid mass transfer in an aerated stirred tank containing Newtonian or shearthinning fluids. The aim is to demonstrate that, for a given mixing system, an unique dimensionless correlation gathering all the mass transfer rates (150 kla measurements) can be obtained if and only if the variability of the rheological material parameters is correctly considered when implementing the theory of similarity. More particularly, it is clearly illustrated that a too gross simplification in the relevant list of the parameters characterizing the dependence of apparent viscosity with shear rates leads to pitfalls when building the PI-space set. This is then a striking example showing that a robust predictive correlation can be established when the non-constancy of fluid physical properties ceases to be neglected

The purpose of this work is to analyze the influence of a sudden expansion on the upstream behavior of the horizontal gas-liquid slug flow. Measurements were made on a 40 mm ID pipe with and without a sudden enlargement of aspect ratio σ = 0.444. The experiments were carried out with two-phase air-water mixture. The slug lengths and frequencies were measured using a non-intrusive video technique. Upstream the sudden enlargement, it was observed that the mixture velocity has no influence on slug length. The variation of slug frequency is found proportional to the liquid superficial velocity for the two cases within this study. It was also observed that the behavior of the slug length and frequency was affected by the presence of the sudden enlargement. The comparison of the results obtained with various empirical correlations available in the literature showed that the latter are not worthwhile in the case where singularity is installed.