微藻废水生物处理技术研究进展

微藻因生长速率快、细胞脂质含量高及具有生物隔离二氧化碳能力,已作为新一代生物质能源受到广泛关注.然而,投入大量淡水资源并需在生长期间持续提供营养物质已成为规模化培育微藻的主要障碍.将微藻培育系统与废水处理相结合是经济可行的污水资源化方案.基于微藻生长期间对氮磷等营养物质的利用机制,本文综述了微藻在各类废水生物处理过程中的应用情况,着重分析了其对废水中有机与无机化合物、重金属以及病原体的去除或抑制能力.同时,考察了废水初始营养物浓度、光照、温度、pH与盐度以及气体交换量等环境因素对微藻生长代谢的影响.此外,结合微藻规模化应用所面临的问题,对微藻废水处理技术的应用前景及发展方向进行了展望,旨在为水生态系统的建设与管理提供参考.     

Microalgae: a robust “green bio-bridge” between energy and environment

Microalgae are a potential candidate for biofuel production and environmental treatment because of their specific characteristics (e.g. fast growth, carbon neutral, and rich lipid accumulations). However, several primary bottlenecks still exist in current technologies, including low biomass conversion efficiency, bio-invasion from the external environment, limited or costly nutrient sources, and high energy and capital input for harvest, and stalling its industrial progression. Coupling biofuel production with environmental treatment renders microalgae a more feasible feedstock. This review focuses on microalgae biotechnologies for both bioenergy generation and environmental treatment (e.g. CO₂ sequestration and wastewater reclamation). Different intelligent technologies have been developed, especially during the last decade, to eliminate the bottlenecks, including mixotrophic/heterotrophic cultivation, immobilization, and co-cultivation. It has been realized that any single purpose for the cultivation of microalgae is not an economically feasible option. Combinations of applications in biorefineries are gradually reckoned to be necessary as it provides more economically feasible and environmentally sustainable operations. This presents microalgae as a special niche occupier linking the fields of energy and environmental sciences and technologies. The integrated application of microalgae is also proven by most of the life-cycle analysis studies. This study summarizes the latest development of primary microalgal biotechnologies in the two areas that will bring researchers a comprehensive view towards industrialization with an economic perspective.     

Nutrient removal and biomass production: advances in microalgal biotechnology for wastewater treatment

Owing to certain drawbacks, such as energy-intensive operations in conventional modes of wastewater treatment (WWT), there has been an extensive search for alternative strategies in treatment technology. Biological modes for treating wastewaters are one of the finest technologies in terms of economy and efficiency. An integrated biological approach with chemical flocculation is being conventionally practiced in several-sewage and effluent treatment plants around the world. Overwhelming responsiveness to treat wastewaters especially by using microalgae is due to their simplest photosynthetic mechanism and ease of acclimation to various habitats. Microalgal technology, also known as phycoremediation, has been in use for WWT since 1950s. Various strategies for the cultivation of microalgae in WWT systems are evolving faster. However, the availability of innovative approaches for maximizing the treatment efficiency, coupled with biomass productivity, remains the major bottleneck for commercialization of microalgal technology. Investment costs and invasive parameters also delimit the use of microalgae in WWT. This review critically discusses the merits and demerits of microalgal cultivation strategies recently developed for maximum pollutant removal as well as biomass productivity. Also, the potential of algal biofilm technology in pollutant removal, and harvesting the microalgal biomass using different techniques have been highlighted. Finally, an economic assessment of the currently available methods has been made to validate microalgal cultivation in wastewater at the commercial level.     

Microalgae wastewater treatment: Biological and technological approaches

Current global environmental issues raise unavoidable challenges for our use of natural resources. Supplying the human population with clean water is becoming a global problem. Numerous organic and inorganic impurities in municipal, industrial, and agricultural waters, ranging from microplastics to high nutrient loads and heavy metals, endanger our nutrition and health. The development of efficient wastewater treatment technologies and circular economic approaches is thus becoming increasingly important. The biomass production of microalgae using industrial wastewater offers the possibility of recycling industrial residues to create new sources of raw materials for energy and material use. This review discusses algae‐based wastewater treatment technologies with a special focus on industrial wastewater sources, the potential of non‐conventional extremophilic (thermophilic, acidophilic, and psychrophilic) microalgae, and industrial algae‐wastewater treatment concepts that have already been put into practice.     

Experimental and theoretical investigations of rotating algae biofilm reactors (RABRs): Areal productivity,nutrient recovery,and energy efficiency

Microalgae biofilms have been demonstrated to recover nutrients from wastewater and serve as biomass feedstock for bioproducts. However, there is a need to develop a platform to quantitatively describe microalgae biofilm production, which can provide guidance and insights for improving biomass areal productivity and nutrient uptake efficiency. This paper proposes a unified experimental and theoretical framework to investigate algae biofilm growth on a rotating algae biofilm reactor (RABR). Experimental laboratory setups are used to conduct controlled experiments on testing environmental and operational factors for RABRs. We propose a differential–integral equation-based mathematical model for microalgae biofilm cultivation guided by laboratory experimental findings. The predictive mathematical model development is coordinated with laboratory experiments of biofilm areal productivity associated with ammonia and inorganic phosphorus uptake by RABRs. The unified experimental and theoretical tool is used to investigate the effects of RABR rotating velocity, duty cycle (DC), and light intensity on algae biofilm growth, areal productivity, nutrient uptake efficiency, and energy efficiency in wastewater treatment. Our framework indicates that maintaining a reasonable light intensity range improves biomass areal productivity and nutrient uptake efficiency. Our framework also indicates that faster RABR rotation benefits biomass areal productivity. However, maximizing the nutrient uptake efficiency requires a reasonably low RABR rotating speed. Energy efficiency is strongly correlated with RABR rotating speed and DC.     

Integration of microalgae cultivation with industrial waste remediation for biofuel and bioenergy production: opportunities and limitations

There is currently a renewed interest in developing microalgae as a source of renewable energy and fuel. Microalgae hold great potential as a source of biomass for the production of energy and fungible liquid transportation fuels. However, the technologies required for large-scale cultivation, processing, and conversion of microalgal biomass to energy products are underdeveloped. Microalgae offer several advantages over traditional 'first-generation' biofuels crops like corn: these include superior biomass productivity, the ability to grow on poor-quality land unsuitable for agriculture, and the potential for sustainable growth by extracting macro- and micronutrients from wastewater and industrial flue-stack emissions. Integrating microalgal cultivation with municipal wastewater treatment and industrial CO(2) emissions from coal-fired power plants is a potential strategy to produce large quantities of biomass, and represents an opportunity to develop, test, and optimize the necessary technologies to make microalgal biofuels more cost-effective and efficient. However, many constraints on the eventual deployment of this technology must be taken into consideration and mitigating strategies developed before large scale microalgal cultivation can become a reality. As a strategy for CO(2) biomitigation from industrial point source emitters, microalgal cultivation can be limited by the availability of land, light, and other nutrients like N and P. Effective removal of N and P from municipal wastewater is limited by the processing capacity of available microalgal cultivation systems. Strategies to mitigate against the constraints are discussed.     

不同接种浓度绿球藻对水产养殖废水净化的影响

通过设置绿球藻(Chlorococcum sphacosum GD)的起始接种浓度(25—400 mg/L),研究其对水产养殖废水的处理效果及藻细胞的生长特性。研究结果表明,起始接种浓度为100 mg/L的绿球藻藻液,其生长特性最佳,比生长速率最大,倍增时间最短。随着起始接种浓度的增加,生长速率逐渐降低,倍增时间逐渐增加。在起始接种浓度为100 mg/L的条件下,在5d的培养周期内,绿球藻能够去除水产养殖废水中96.92%的COD、98.08%的氨氮、98.67%的亚硝氮、91.42%的硝氮及98.36%的总磷。低起始接种浓度(尤其是100 mg/L)有利于绿球藻的生长和污染物降解。研究初步探明了微藻起始接种浓度对水产养殖废水处理效果的影响。通过控制微藻接种浓度有望在提高污染物去除率的同时缩短培养周期并提高容积负荷,为今后微藻用于大规模水产养殖废水的处理提供了一定的理论支持。     

Microalgal-bacterial aggregates: Applications and perspectives for wastewater treatment

Research on wastewater treatment by means of microalgal-bacterial processes has become a hot topic worldwide during the last two decades. Owing to the lower energy demand for oxygenation, the enhanced nutrient removal and the potential for resource recovery, microalgal-based technologies are nowadays considered as a good alternative to conventional activated sludge treatments in many instances. Nevertheless, biomass harvesting still constitutes one of the major challenges of microalgal-bacterial systems for wastewater treatment, which is hindered by the poor settleability of microalgal biomass. In this review, the use of microalgal-bacterial aggregates (MABAs) to overcome harvesting issues and to enhance resource recovery is presented. The fundamentals of MABAs-based technologies, the operational strategies and factors affecting the formation of MABAs, the microbiology and the methanogenic potential of the aggregates are addressed and critically discussed. The most recent findings and the challenges facing this technology towards its consolidation are also presented.     

利用废水培养微藻的研究进展

微藻被认为是一种有潜力的、可被开发为再生能源的重要生物材料。一些微藻种类具有较强的异养和混养能力,能直接利用有机物作为碳源。工农业生产和城市生活中所排放的废水中通常含有大量的有机碳、氮、磷等营养物质。利用废水培养微藻,一方面可以将废水中的碳、氮、磷等营养物质转化为具有更高价值的微藻生物质,另一方面又可实现废水的净化和营养物质的再利用。本综述了不同种类废水的特点,讨论了两类微藻培养模式的优劣,同时还探讨了微藻对营养元素的利用,并总结了微藻培养需突破的瓶颈。     

微藻在废水处理和生物质回收再利用方面的研究进展

随着经济的发展和人口的增加,环境污染和水资源短缺已经成为不可避免的全球性问题。基于微藻的废水处理技术不仅可以净化废水、解决环境污染问题,还可以利用废水中的营养元素合成生物质,现如今这种技术已经受到越来越多的关注。为了进一步提高废水处理效果、降低废水处理成本,有必要了解微藻去除废水中营养物质和污染物的机理,开发下游低成本收获技术,提升微藻高价值副产物的生产。本文综述了微藻去除碳、氮、磷、重金属、抗生素和有机物的机理和影响因素,总结了微藻的不同收获方式和微藻生物质在各个领域的应用。最后,分析了不同微藻共培养体系和微藻固定化技术的优缺点,并展望了微藻废水处理技术未来的发展方向。     

Membrane technology in microalgae cultivation and harvesting: A review

Membrane processes have long been applied in different stages of microalgae cultivation and processing. These processes include microfiltration, ultrafiltration, dialysis, forward osmosis, membrane contactors and membrane spargers. They are implemented in many combinations, both as a standalone and as a coupled system (in membrane biomass retention photobioreactors (BR-MPBRs) or membrane carbonation photobioreactors (C-MPBRs). To provide sufficient background on these applications, an overview of membrane materials and membrane processes of interest in microalgae cultivation and processing is provided in this work first. Afterwards, discussion about specific aspects of membrane applications in microbial cultivation and harvesting is provided, including membrane fouling. Many of the membrane processes were shown to be promising options in microalgae cultivation. Yet, significant process optimizations are still required when they are applied to enable microalgae biomass bulk production to become competitive as a raw material for biofuel production. Recent developments of the coupled systems (BR-MPBR and C-MPBR) bring significant promises to improve the volumetric productivity of a cultivation system and the efficiency of inorganic carbon capture, respectively.     

Biofouling in photobioreactors for marine microalgae

The economic and/or energetic feasibility of processes based on using microalgae biomass requires an efficient cultivation system. In photobioreactors (PBRs), the adhesion of microalgae to the transparent PBR surfaces leads to biofouling and reduces the solar radiation penetrating the PBR. Light reduction within the PBR decreases biomass productivity and, therefore, the photosynthetic efficiency of the cultivation system. Additionally, PBR biofouling leads to a series of further undesirable events including changes in cell pigmentation, culture degradation, and contamination by invasive microorganisms; all of which can result in the cultivation process having to be stopped. Designing PBR surfaces with proper materials, functional groups or surface coatings, to prevent microalgal adhesion is essential for solving the biofouling problem. Such a significant advance in microalgal biotechnology would enable extended operational periods at high productivity and reduce maintenance costs. In this paper, we review the few systematic studies performed so far and applied the existing thermodynamic and colloidal theories for microbial biofouling formation in order to understand microalgal adhesion on PBR surfaces and the microalgae–microalgae cell interactions. Their relationship to the physicochemical properties of the solid PBR surface, the microalgae cell surfaces, and the ionic strength of the culture medium is discussed. The suitability and the applicability of such theories are reviewed. To this end, an example of biofouling formation on a commercial glass surface is presented for the marine microalgae Nannochloropsis gaditana. It highlights the adhesion dynamics and the inaccuracies of the process and the need for further refinement of previous theories so as to apply them to flowing systems, such as is the case for PBRs used to culture microalgae.     

Microalgae–bacteria symbiosis in microalgal growth and biofuel production: a review

Photosynthetic microalgae can capture solar energy and convert it to bioenergy and biochemical products. In nature or industrial processes, microalgae live together with bacterial communities and may maintain symbiotic relationships. In general interactions, microalgae exude dissolved organic carbon that becomes available to bacteria. In return, the bacteria remineralize sulphur, nitrogen and phosphorous to support the further growth of microalgae. In specific interactions, heterotrophic bacteria supply B vitamins as organic cofactors or produce siderophores to bind iron, which could be utilized by microalgae, while the algae supply fixed carbon to the bacteria in return. In this review, we focus on mutualistic relationship between microalgae and bacteria, summarizing recent studies on the mechanisms involved in microalgae–bacteria symbiosis. Symbiotic bacteria on promoting microalgal growth are described and the relevance of microalgae–bacteria interactions for biofuel production processes is discussed. Symbiotic microalgae–bacteria consortia could be utilized to improve microalgal biomass production and to enrich the biomass with valuable chemical and energy compounds. The suitable control of such biological interactions between microalgae and bacteria will help to improve the microalgae-based biomass and biofuel production in the future.     

Configuration of biological wastewater treatment line and influent composition as the main factors driving bacterial community structure of activated sludge

The structure of microbial consortia in wastewater treatment facilities is a resultant of environmental conditions created by the operational parameters of the purification process. In the research, activated sludge from nine Polish wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) was investigated at a molecular level to determine the impact of the complexity of biological treatment line and the influent composition on the species structure and the diversity of bacterial consortia. The community fingerprints and technological data were subjected to the canonical correspondence and correlation analyses. The number of separated biological processes realized in the treatment line and the presence of industrial wastewater in the influent were the key factors determining the species structure of total and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria in biomass. The N₂O-reducers community composition depended significantly on the design of the facility; the highest species richness of denitrifiers was noted in the WWTPs with separated denitrification tanks. The contribution of industrial streams to the inflow affected the diversity of total and denitrifying bacterial consortia and diminished the diversity of ammonia oxidizers. The obtained data are valuable for engineers since they revealed the main factors, including the design of wastewater treatment plant, influencing the microbial groups critical for the stability of purification processes.     

Microalgae potential as a biogas source: current status,restraints and future trends

In recent years, the world energy demands have had a recurrent increase. For this reason the alternative to the fossil fuel resources are trend topics in investigation. Microalgae have been extensively studied as a source of biofuels and as one of the most promising alternatives in this new framework. One of the possibilities of obtaining renewable energy from microalgae is biogas production using anaerobic digestion process. This process is considered a significant component for biofuels and waste management, since represent an opportunity for energy generation using different wastewater products; also, the economic viability of microalgae liquid biofuel production could be improved. However, the anaerobic digestion of microalgae biomass is still not optimized because of the numerous technical limitations such as the microalgae characteristics, low carbon:nitrogen ratio, ammonia toxicity and even salinity. The present review summarizes and compares information concerning to anaerobic digestion of microalgal biomass and future directions for research. Besides, specific operational factors and potential inhibitory parameters of the process are analyzed and compared. Additionally, the paper covers the state or art concerning in methane production enhancement from algal biomass.     

二氧化碳减排产柴油微藻培养体系研究进展

污水资源化、二氧化碳减排及微藻生物柴油是当前能源与环境领域的前沿课题。以下围绕污水及烟道气资源化培养产油微藻的培养体系,就藻种、营养条件、培养方式、培养环境及微藻生物反应器等影响产油微藻培养的因素研究进展进行了综述。在综述的基础上提出：由于微藻具有特殊营养方式,通过藻种筛选、微藻营养条件和培养环境的优化以及高效光生物反应器和生产工艺等的创新,可利用污水进行产油微藻生产,以获得生物柴油等高附加值产品,实现微藻生物能源、污水资源化处理和CO2减排三者高度耦合的产油微藻生产体系,从而减少微藻培养费用及污水处理费用,因此,该体系具有重要的环境、社会、经济价值和商业化应用前景。     

Effect of the N/P ratio on biomass productivity and nutrient removal from municipal wastewater

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of the N/P ratio on biomass growth with the simultaneous removal of nutrients from municipal wastewaters. An optical panel photobioreactor is employed for this investigation because it provides a uniform light distribution within the reactor, which enhances the efficiency of the reactor in the cultivation of microalgae. The N/P ratio is varied over a wide range, i.e., from 5 to 30, for the assessment of its effect on biomass productivity. There is not a strong correlation between biomass productivity and TN removal, and these factors do not seem to be proportional in the wastewater using the microalgae we employed. In contrast, the TP removal depends greatly on both the N/P ratio and biomass productivity. The optimum value of the N/P ratio for biomass productivity in and nutrient removal from municipal wastewater treatment using microalgae varies from 5 to 30, depending on the ecological conditions in the wastewater.     

微藻在CO2生物捕集及废水生态修复领域的研究进展

温室效应、水资源短缺和能源危机是21世纪人类面临的三大挑战。微藻是一种水生植物,在CO₂减排、废水生态修复及生物能源领域已成为全球研究热点。综述了微藻在CO₂生物捕集和废水生态修复的应用研究进展。微藻生物柴油现已成为全球研发热点,但研究主要集中在某个单元的最优化设计,而对各单元之间相互作用和耦合的重要性缺乏充分认知,提出了将CO₂生物捕集、废水生态修复、生物柴油制备、藻渣替代水煤浆与煤共气化的理念,这对微藻生物过程的高效全局优化和环境综合治理具有重要意义,是未来我国发展低碳经济的有效途径,并在此基础上对微藻产业规模化的未来核心研究方向进行了展望。     

Wastewater treatment by the HCR‐process

The increasing requirements in wastewater treatment have led to the development of new wastewater treatment processes based on the know‐how and experience in reaction and process engineering of the chemical industry. Due to their compactness, closed operation and high flexibility, these new processes show a large potential for process integration and significant cost reduction in particular for highly polluted industrial wastewaters. This paper discusses the HCR (h igh‐performance c ompact r eactor) ‐ process, developed at the Mass Transfer Laboratory of the Technical University of Clausthal within the last decade. This process has been realized in more than 30 technical applications with a volume loading of up to 70 kg COD/m³ d and an energy consumption of about 0.4 kWh per kg COD_elim.     

Optimization of a raceway pond system for wastewater treatment: a review

Microalgae are photosynthetic microorganisms with potential for biofuel production, CO₂ mitigation and wastewater treatment; indeed they have the capacity to assimilate pollutants in wastewaters. Light supply and distribution among the microalgae culture is one of the major challenges of photo-bioreactor design, with many studies focusing on microalgae culture systems such as raceway ponds (RWP), widely used and cost-effective systems for algal biomass production. This review focuses on possible improvements of the RWP design in order to achieve optimal microalgal growth conditions and high biomass productivities, to minimize energy consumption and to lower the capital costs of the pond. The improvement strategy is based on three aspects: (1) hydrodynamic characteristics of the raceway pond, (2) evaluation of hydrodynamic and mass transfer capacities of the pond and (3) design of the RWP. Finally, a possible optimal design for the RWP is discussed in the context of wastewater treatment.