The sedimentation rates of algae are influenced by the settling velocity of micro­algae, which can be increased by increasing cell dimensions (i. e., by aggregation of cells into large bodies) (Schenk et al., 2008). This principle is being applied to algal harvesting, wherein chemicals are added to enhance flocculation, causing the large algal flocs to settle more readily to the bottom of the container. The floccula­tion of algal biomass is generally followed by gravity sedimentation for settling of algal flocs, thus enhancing the efficiency of this process. Gravity sedimentation preceded by flocculation is one of the most commonly used techniques for first — stage (1% to 5% solids) algae biomass harvesting (Girma et al., 2003; Pittman et al., 2011). However, the gravity settling rate for very small sized microalgae is too low for routine high rate algae harvesting, and holding algal biomass for a long time under dark and static conditions can result in significant biomass loss via respiration and bacterial decomposition. Moreover, during flocculation, flocs may float due to adsorption of tiny air bubbles and do not settle by gravitational forces. The classical approach to gravity settling may therefore not be very efficient for rapid biomass recovery from high-rate algal ponds. The sedimentation rate can be increased by increasing the gravitational force via centrifugation. The latter has very high biomass recovery (>95%) and can be applied to a wide range of microal­gae, although it cannot be used for an algae farm producing an energy feedstock, owing to cost constraints.