Magdalena Rokicka

The Possibility of Using Macroalgae Biomass from Natural Reservoirs as a Substrate in the Methane Fermentation Process

The objective of this study was to determine the possibility of applying macroalgae biomass originating from Bay of Puck, Poland, as a substrate in the methane fermentation process and to verify the impact of taxonomic structure and other physicochemical traits of the analyzed biomass on the technological effectiveness of the fermentation process. The efficiency of methane fermentation was determined using respirometric kits. In all periods of the vegetative season, the structure of macrophytobenthos was predominated by brown algae of the family Ectocarpaceae, namely Pilayella litoralis and Ectocarpus sp. The production of biogas fitted within a narrow range of 266.53 ± 16.43 cm3/g o.d.m. during fermentation of algae harvested in September and 285.71 ± 11.35 cm3/g o.d.m. in that from August. The percentage content of methane in biogas ranged from 57.28 ± 1.75% to 59.22 ± 2.84%. Regardless of macroalgae biomass harvest period, the postfermented sludge was characterized by similar values of the analyzed parameters.

Effectiveness of dairy wastewater treatment in a bioreactor based on the integrated technology of activated sludge and hydrophyte system

The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of dairy wastewater treatment in the integrated technology based on the simultaneous use of the activated sludge method (AS) and a hydrophyte system (HS) (AS–HS), in this case, common reed (Phragmites australis) or common cattail (Typha latifolia). Experiments were conducted in an innovative reactor exploited in the fractional-technical scale at the loads of 0.05 mg BOD5/mg.d.m. d (biochemical oxygen demand) and 0.10 mg BOD5/mg.d.m d. The AS–HS enabled improving the removal effectiveness of biogenes characterized by concentrations of Ntot., N-NH4 and Ptot.. In contrast, the integrated system had no significant reducing effect either on concentrations of organic compounds characterized by BOD5 and chemical oxygen demand parameters or on the structure of AS in the sequencing batch-type reactors.

The effect of pressure and temperature pretreatment on the biogas output from algal biomass

This paper presents data on methane fermentation of algal biomass containing Chlorella sp. and Scenedesmus sp. The biomass was obtained from closed-culture photobioreactors. Before the process, the algae were subjected to low temperature and pressure pretreatment for 0.0, 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 h. The prepared biomass was subjected to mesophilic methane fermentation. The amount and composition of the biogas formed in the process were determined. The amount of biogas produced was larger when the biomass was subjected to thermal preprocessing. The proportion of methane in the gas also increased. Extending the heating time beyond 1.0 h did not significantly improve the biogassing effects.

USE OF A BALANCED EFFLUENT FROM THE ANAEROBIC REACTOR FOR ALGAE CHLORELLA VULGARIS GROWTH FOR BIOMASS PRODUCTION

The aim of the study was to determine the possible use of the effluent, produced in the process of the anaerobic decomposition of organic substances, as a medium in the cultivation of microalgae Chlorella vulgaris. The characteristics of efficiency and kinetic of algae growth rate was determined. The scope included balancing of the effluent so as to provide an adequate level of nutrients required for algae growth. The effluent dilutions of 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% was tested. The effluent was supplemented with nutrients to create the same conditions as in the synthetic medium. The tested effluent can be used in the intensive cultivation of biomass of microalgae Chlorella vulgaris. The best results were obtained with the effluent dilution of 75%.

MICROALGAE BIOMASS PRODUCTION BASED ON WASTEWATER FROM DAIRY INDUSTRY

The goal of this study was to determine the feasibility of culturing high-oil algae biomass based on wastewater from dairy processing plants. The experiments were conducted in laboratory scale with tubular photobioreactor using. The best technological properties were demonstrated for eluates from an anaerobic reactor treating dairy wastewater. The use of a substrate of this type yielded algae biomass concentration at a level of 3490 mg d.m./ dm3, with the mean rate of algae biomass growth at 176 mg d.m./dm3∙d. The mean content of oil in the proliferated biomass of algae approximated 20%.