NOVELTY - A method (M1) for bio-oil recovery from a fermentation process involves adding at least one separation aid to stillage that contains oil, to form a treated stillage prior to centrifuging the stillage and centrifuging the treated stillage in at least one centrifuge to separate a portion of the oil from the treated stillage, where the separation aid comprises at least one lecithin and at least one oil and optionally at least one surfactant having an hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) value of at least 6.    USE - As method for bio-oil recovery from a fermentation process; as method for oil recovery from algae; and as bio-oil recovery system (claimed).    ADVANTAGE - The method is safer and more efficient, versatile, and economical for recovering bio-oil from biomass, such as stillage or algae or other biomass.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - INDEPENDENT CLAIMS are included for the following:    (1) separation aid composition (A1) comprising 20-50 wt.% at least one lecithin, 20-50 wt.% at least one oil, and 0-20 wt.% at least one surfactant having an HLB values of at least 9;    (2) treated stillage (S1) comprising the separation aid composition (A1) and stillage, where the separation aid is present in an amount of at least 50 parts per million (ppm);    (3) method (M2) for oil recovery from algae involving adding at least one separation aid to algae that contains oil, to form a treated algae prior to centrifuging the algae and centrifuging the treated algae in at least one centrifuge to separate a portion of the oil from the treated algae, where the separation aid comprises at least one lecithin and at least one oil and optionally at least one surfactant having an HLB value of at least 6;    (4) bio-oil recovery system comprising a supply of biomass that comprises stillage or algae, a supply of separation aid, where the separation aid comprises at least one lecithin and at least one oil and optionally at least one surfactant having an HLB value of at least 6, a treatment unit for combining the separation aid with the biomass to form treated biomass, and a centrifuge for dewatering the treated biomass to produce concentrated bio-oil.