Vibrating Screens

Vibrating screens are commonly used in industries such as the paper or food industry as a material separating or sorting device. They are also used in municipal wastewater treatment plants to concentrate sludge. Earlier harvesting of Coelastrum algae by vibrating screen was reported (Mohn, 1980). Higher algae solids concentration of 7-8% has been harvested under batch operations in comparison with lower algal solids contents of 5-6% when operated in continuous mode. In a study by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Habib et al., 2008), vibrating screens were used for harvesting Spirulina, which are multicellular and filamentous blue-green microalgae belonging to two separate genera, Spirulina and Arthrospira. In the commercial Spirulina production as food for humans and domestic animals and fish, vibrating screen filtration used for harvesting achieved very high algal biomass removal efficiency of up to 95% for harvesting up to 20 m3/hour, from which algal slurry of 8-10% biomass solid contents were produced. Compared with the inclining screens counterpart with a filtration area of 2 to 4 m2/unit, the vibrating screens required only one-third of the area.