Repurposing commercial anaerobic digester wastewater to improve cyanobacteria cultivation and digestibility for bioenergy systems

TY - JOUR

T1 - Repurposing commercial anaerobic digester wastewater to improve cyanobacteria cultivation and digestibility for bioenergy systems

AU - Yeung, Tracey

AU - Wotton, Alexander

AU - Walsh, Louise

AU - Aldous, Leigh

AU - Conibeer, Gavin

AU - Patterson, Robert

PY - 2019/3/1

Y1 - 2019/3/1

N2 - Wastewater was sourced directly from an industrial anaerobic biodigestion system to assess its potential to serve as a growth medium and improve the digestibility of microalgae in a closed-loop bioenergy system. Cyanobacteria (Oscillatoria sp.) were cultured in the wastewater and further explored as a feedstock for biomethane production via methanogenesis. Promisingly high levels of nitrate (1180 mg L -1 ) and phosphate (61.5 mg L -1 ) were found in the nitrification-treated, NO 3 -rich wastewater stream. While cyanobacteria were not observed to grow directly in this NO 3 -rich wastewater stream, a modest dilution of the wastewater by a factor of two produced denser cultures than could be grown in standard f/2 media, which was made by enriching seawater. Growth in wastewater to improve the digestibility of the cyanobacteria resulted in significantly more methane from cultures in both the NO 3 -rich and the untreated, NH 4 -rich wastewater streams.

AB - Wastewater was sourced directly from an industrial anaerobic biodigestion system to assess its potential to serve as a growth medium and improve the digestibility of microalgae in a closed-loop bioenergy system. Cyanobacteria (Oscillatoria sp.) were cultured in the wastewater and further explored as a feedstock for biomethane production via methanogenesis. Promisingly high levels of nitrate (1180 mg L -1 ) and phosphate (61.5 mg L -1 ) were found in the nitrification-treated, NO 3 -rich wastewater stream. While cyanobacteria were not observed to grow directly in this NO 3 -rich wastewater stream, a modest dilution of the wastewater by a factor of two produced denser cultures than could be grown in standard f/2 media, which was made by enriching seawater. Growth in wastewater to improve the digestibility of the cyanobacteria resulted in significantly more methane from cultures in both the NO 3 -rich and the untreated, NH 4 -rich wastewater streams.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85062262501&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1039/c8se00354h

DO - 10.1039/c8se00354h

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85062262501

SN - 2398-4902

VL - 3

SP - 841

EP - 849

JO - Sustainable Energy and Fuels

JF - Sustainable Energy and Fuels

IS - 3

ER -