Microalgae biomass production using wastewater: Treatment and costs

Gouveia, Luísa; Graça, Sofia; Sousa, Catarina; Ambrosano, Lucas; Ribeiro, Belina; Botrel, Élberis Pereira; Neto, Pedro Castro; Ferreira, Ana F.; Silva, Carla M.

doi:10.1016/j.algal.2016.03.010

Cited by 208 publications

(79 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…In case of nitrogen repletion, all nitrogen is taken up within certain ranges. This can be proven by continuous turbidostat cultivations with increasing nitrogen source content in [62,[70][71][72][73][74]. The lightest part of the inner circle (fraction of potential accumulation) displays the remaining fraction of the cell.…”

Section: Stoichiometry Of Macromolecular Compositionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Microalgal kinetics — a guideline for photobioreactor design and process development

Schediwy

Trautmann

Steinweg

et al. 2019

Engineering in Life Sciences

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Kinetics generally describes bio‐(chemical) reaction rates in dependence on substrate concentrations. Kinetics for microalgae is often adapted from heterotrophs and lacks mechanistic foundation, e.g. for light harvesting. Using and understanding kinetic equations as the representation of intracellular mechanisms is essential for reasonable comparisons and simulations of growth behavior. Summarizing growth kinetics in one equation does not yield reliable models. Piecewise linear or rational functions may mimic photosynthesis irradiance response curves, but fail to represent the mechanisms. Our modeling approach for photoautotrophic growth comprises physical and kinetic modules with mechanistic foundation extracted from the literature. Splitting the light submodel into the modules for light distribution, light absorption, and photosynthetic sugar production with independent parameters allows the transfer of kinetics between different reactor designs. The consecutive anabolism depends among others on nutrient concentrations. The nutrient uptake kinetics largely impacts carbon partitioning in the reviewed stoichiometry range of cellular constituents. Consecutive metabolic steps mask each other and demand a maximum value understandable as the minimum principle of growth. These fundamental modules need to be clearly distinguished, but may be modified or extended based on process conditions and progress in research. First, discussion of kinetics helps to understand the physiological situation, for which ranges of parameter values are given. Second, kinetics should be used for photobioreactor design, but also for gassing and nutrient optimization. Numerous examples are given for both aspects. Finally, measuring kinetics more comprehensively and precisely will help in improved process development.

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Section: Stoichiometry Of Macromolecular Compositionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…[]. A minimum of 35% of the cell consist necessarily of certain constituents according to the reviewed data (Figure , ). This fraction seems to maintain the activity of essential metabolic pathways as well as the cellular structure.…”

Section: Nutrient Uptake and Stoichiometrymentioning

confidence: 99%

Microalgal kinetics — a guideline for photobioreactor design and process development

Schediwy

Trautmann

Steinweg

et al. 2019

Engineering in Life Sciences

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“…Researchers aim to increase both biomass productivity and lipid content, usually under stress conditions such as nitrogen starvation, phosphate limitation, and high Fe 3+ concentrations. Another way is using wastewater as culture medium, finding specific species and growing them under local conditions . Some species have a lipid content between 1% and 70%; others can reach up to 90%, although 20–50% is a common value .…”

Section: General Aspects Of Biodiesel From Microalgaementioning

confidence: 99%

Microalgae as a potential source for biodiesel production: techniques, methods, and other challenges

Arenas

Palacio

Juantorena

et al. 2016

Int. J. Energy Res.

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Summary This paper reviews some of the most important aspects of microalgae as a potential source for biodiesel production. Microalgae are photosynthetic microorganisms that can grow rapidly in a variety of environments because of their unicellular or multicellular structure depending on the species. They have the advantage of self‐reproduction using solar energy and converting it into chemical energy via photosynthesis. This process concludes a full cycle in a few days, obtaining higher lipid yields than terrestrial crops. This review shows several techniques and some methodologies used in the biodiesel production process from microalgae as well as the challenges that must be overcome for large‐scale process and in bio‐refineries. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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“…However, the costs of using microalgae to clean wastewaters must be carefully managed to achieve the same cost levels as conventional wastewater treatment plants (0.1–0.2 € m −3 ) . Gouveia et al . studied the economics of alternative microalgae cultivation paths, comparing different cultivation systems and strategies (open ponds vs closed PBRs, sunlight vs artificial light, wastewater vs freshwater).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to that study, the major costs are associated with culture nutrients and freshwater, and the use of wastewater effectively reduced those costs by around 95%. Using wastewater, the costs of electricity using air pumping and artificial lighting are the most significant, yet much lower than the price of nutrients . However, even with the enormous reduction achieved by the use of wastewater, the microalgae cultivation cost is still very high when compared with the market price of the microalgal biomass (0.01–0.5 € kg −1 ) .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scenedesmus obliquusmicroalga‐based biorefinery – from brewery effluent to bioactive compounds, biofuels and biofertilizers – aiming at a circular bioeconomy

Ferreira

Ribeiro

Ferreira

et al. 2019

Biofuels Bioprod Bioref

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The circular bioeconomy concept relies on the exploitation of wastes as a feedstock of different biotechnological processes to obtain, as much as possible, a huge spectrum of biochemical components through a biorefinery platform. This work deals with the treatment of brewery effluent through the cultivation of Scenedesmus obliquus microalga and the use of the biomass in a complex biorefinery. The treatment proved efficient in the removal of nutrients (N, P and COD removals of 88, 30 and 71% respectively). Several compounds and products were obtained from the biomass, such as: (a) phenols (0.249-1.016 mg GAE mL −1 ) and flavonoids (0.05-0.167 mg CE mL −1 ) by subcritical water extraction (SWE) at 120 °C, the extraction efficiency being five times higher at 200 °C; (b) biohydrogen by dark fermentation (67.1 mL H 2 g VS −1 ); (c) bio-oil (64%), biochar (30%) and biogas (6%) by pyrolysis; and (d) enhanced capacity of germination/growth of wheat and barley seeds by S. obliquus culture and biomass (pellet, after centrifugation); better results were obtained with the biomass cultivated in brewery effluent (when compared with synthetic medium), and the biomass pellet was better than the whole culture; barley seeds 1170 A Ferreira et al.In the Field: Scenedesmus obliquus microalga-based biorefinery aiming at a circular bioeconomy treated with the pellet from the brewery effluent had the highest germination index (GI) of 85 compared with the control (tap water) GI of 35. The innovative study emphasis was on reducing microalgae production costs, providing environmental benefits in a biorefinery-based S. obliquus platform.

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Microalgae biomass production using wastewater: Treatment and costs

Cited by 208 publications

References 40 publications

Microalgal kinetics — a guideline for photobioreactor design and process development

Microalgal kinetics — a guideline for photobioreactor design and process development

Microalgae as a potential source for biodiesel production: techniques, methods, and other challenges

Scenedesmus obliquusmicroalga‐based biorefinery – from brewery effluent to bioactive compounds, biofuels and biofertilizers – aiming at a circular bioeconomy

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