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Scaling-Up the Anaerobic Digestion of Pretreated Microalgal Biomass within a Water Resource Recovery Facility

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  • Rubén Díez-Montero

    (GEMMA—Group of Environmental Engineering and Microbiology, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya·BarcelonaTech, c/Jordi Girona 1-3, Building D1, 08034 Barcelona, Spain)

  • Lucas Vassalle

    (GEMMA—Group of Environmental Engineering and Microbiology, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya·BarcelonaTech, c/Jordi Girona 1-3, Building D1, 08034 Barcelona, Spain
    Department of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Antônio Carlos, 6627, Belo Horizonte 31270-901, Brazil)

  • Fabiana Passos

    (Department of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Antônio Carlos, 6627, Belo Horizonte 31270-901, Brazil)

  • Antonio Ortiz

    (GEMMA—Group of Environmental Engineering and Microbiology, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya·BarcelonaTech, c/Jordi Girona 1-3, Building D1, 08034 Barcelona, Spain)

  • María Jesús García-Galán

    (GEMMA—Group of Environmental Engineering and Microbiology, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya·BarcelonaTech, c/Jordi Girona 1-3, Building D1, 08034 Barcelona, Spain)

  • Joan García

    (GEMMA—Group of Environmental Engineering and Microbiology, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya·BarcelonaTech, c/Jordi Girona 1-3, Building D1, 08034 Barcelona, Spain)

  • Ivet Ferrer

    (GEMMA—Group of Environmental Engineering and Microbiology, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya·BarcelonaTech, c/Jordi Girona 1-3, Building D1, 08034 Barcelona, Spain)

Abstract

Microalgae-based wastewater treatment plants are low-cost alternatives for recovering nutrients from contaminated effluents through microalgal biomass, which may be subsequently processed into valuable bioproducts and bioenergy. Anaerobic digestion for biogas and biomethane production is the most straightforward and applicable technology for bioenergy recovery. However, pretreatment techniques may be needed to enhance the anaerobic biodegradability of microalgae. To date, very few full-scale systems have been put through, due to acknowledged bottlenecks such as low biomass concentration after conventional harvesting and inefficient processing into valuable products. The aim of this study was to evaluate the anaerobic digestion of pretreated microalgal biomass in a demonstration-scale microalgae biorefinery, and to compare the results obtained with previous research conducted at lab-scale, in order to assess the scalability of this bioprocess. In the lab-scale experiments, real municipal wastewater was treated in high rate algal ponds (2 × 0.47 m 3 ), and harvested microalgal biomass was thickened and digested to produce biogas. It was observed how the methane yield increased by 67% after implementing a thermal pretreatment step (at 75 °C for 10 h), and therefore the very same pretreatment was applied in the demonstration-scale study. In this case, agricultural runoff was treated in semi-closed tubular photobioreactors (3 × 11.7 m 3 ), and harvested microalgal biomass was thickened and thermally pretreated before undergoing the anaerobic digestion to produce biogas. The results showed a VS removal of 70% in the reactor and a methane yield up to 0.24 L CH 4 /g VS, which were similar to the lab-scale results. Furthermore, photosynthetic biogas upgrading led to the production of biomethane, while the digestate was treated in a constructed wetland to obtain a biofertilizer. In this way, the demonstration-scale plant evidenced the feasibility of recovering resources (biomethane and biofertilizer) from agricultural runoff using microalgae-based systems coupled with anaerobic digestion of the microalgal biomass.

Suggested Citation

  • Rubén Díez-Montero & Lucas Vassalle & Fabiana Passos & Antonio Ortiz & María Jesús García-Galán & Joan García & Ivet Ferrer, 2020. "Scaling-Up the Anaerobic Digestion of Pretreated Microalgal Biomass within a Water Resource Recovery Facility," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-17, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:20:p:5484-:d:431698
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Solé-Bundó, Maria & Passos, Fabiana & Romero-Güiza, Maycoll S. & Ferrer, Ivet & Astals, Sergi, 2019. "Co-digestion strategies to enhance microalgae anaerobic digestion: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 471-482.
    2. Francisco G. Acien-Fernandez & Jose M. Fernandez-Sevilla & Emilio Molina Grima, 2017. "Microalgae: The Basis of Mankind Sustainability," Chapters, in: Bernardo Llamas & Felipe Luis Mazadiego & Maria Dolores Storch De Gracia (ed.), Case Study of Innovative Projects - Successful Real Cases, IntechOpen.
    3. Ehimen, E.A. & Holm-Nielsen, J.-B. & Poulsen, M. & Boelsmand, J.E., 2013. "Influence of different pre-treatment routes on the anaerobic digestion of a filamentous algae," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 476-480.
    4. Jankowska, Ewelina & Sahu, Ashish K. & Oleskowicz-Popiel, Piotr, 2017. "Biogas from microalgae: Review on microalgae's cultivation, harvesting and pretreatment for anaerobic digestion," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 692-709.
    5. Zabed, Hossain M. & Akter, Suely & Yun, Junhua & Zhang, Guoyan & Zhang, Yufei & Qi, Xianghui, 2020. "Biogas from microalgae: Technologies, challenges and opportunities," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
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    Cited by:

    1. Ana F. Esteves & Eva M. Salgado & José C. M. Pires, 2022. "Recent Advances in Microalgal Biorefineries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-4, August.

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