The world's brown marine algae, or kelps, have a great potential for agricultural use. Over 14 million tonnes of kelp are estimated to be available for harvesting every year, but only 6.3% is harvested, mostly for food products or alginate extraction. The inclusion of kelp in an animal's ration has been found by several researchers to have a beneficial effect on the animal's health and productivity. High concentrations of kelp in an animal's ration, however, can have detrimental effects on the animal's health due to toxic levels of certain inorganic salts. / By including a dewatering operation in the production of dried kelp meal, much of the soluble salts present in the kelp will be removed with the filtrate. The filtrate would also be valuable as a source of potassium, trace minerals, and phyto-hormones for crops. Energy costs for dewatering are also much lower than for drying. Because kelp is difficult to dewater using conventional methods, a combined fields technique using electro-osmosis and mechanical pressure was investigated. / Electric current and pressure were both found to have a significant positive effect on dewatering. Dewatering resulted in significantly lower ash and available carbohydrate fractions, while having no other significant effect on kelp meal composition. The combined fields dewatering resulted in significant total energy savings over conventional dewatering or drying alone. / The combined fields dewatering process was successfully scaled up to a continuous process using a prototype roller press. The press was able to produce a press cake with up to 32% solids. The continuous process resulted in significantly lower ash content and significantly higher protein. The total energy to produce kelp meal with the roller press was found to be about half of the energy required for drying alone.

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Thesis (M.S.)--Washington State University, August 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 73-77).

Thesis. 1977. Ph.D.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ENGINEERING. / Vita. / Includes bibliographical references. / Ph.D.