Influence of cell properties on rheological characterization of microalgae suspensions

The influences of algal cell size and surface charge on rheological properties of microalgae suspensions were investigated. The effective viscosity of two microalgae suspensions, i.e., the freshwater Chlorella sp. and the marine Chlorella sp., was measured as a function of their volume fractions in the range of 0.70–4.31%. The hydrodynamic diameters of the freshwater Chlorella sp. and the marine Chlorella sp. were measured to be 3.13 and 6.00 μm, respectively. The Zeta potentials of these two algal cells were measured to be −23.73 and −81.81 mV, respectively. The intrinsic viscosities of these two microalgae suspensions were further determined to be 24.7 and 16.1, respectively. Combining with theoretical models, these results indicated that the algal cell size has a predominant effect over cell surface charge in affecting rheological properties of microalgae suspensions. Smaller algal cells result in a higher effective viscosity of the microalgae suspension.