Microalgae based wastewater treatment coupled to the production of high value agricultural products: Current needs and challenges

One of the main social and economic challenges of the 21st century will be to overcome the worlds’ water deficit expected by the end of this decade. Microalgae based wastewater treatment has been suggested as a strategy to recover nutrients from wastewater while simultaneously producing clean water....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Chemosphere (Oxford) 2022-03, Vol.291 (Pt 3), p.132968-132968, Article 132968
Main Authors: Morillas-España, Ainoa, Lafarga, Tomas, Sánchez-Zurano, Ana, Acién-Fernández, Francisco Gabriel, González-López, Cynthia
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agriculture
Biofertilisers
Biomass
Bioremediation
Biostimulants
Cyanobacteria
Microalgae
Nitrogen
Nutrients
Waste Water
Water
Water Purification
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Summary:One of the main social and economic challenges of the 21st century will be to overcome the worlds’ water deficit expected by the end of this decade. Microalgae based wastewater treatment has been suggested as a strategy to recover nutrients from wastewater while simultaneously producing clean water. Consortia of microalgae and bacteria are responsible for recovering nutrients from wastewater. A better understanding of how environmental and operational conditions affect the composition of the microalgae-bacteria consortia would allow to maximise nutrient recoveries and biomass productivities. Most of the studies reported to date showed promising results, although up-scaling of these processes to reactors larger than 100 m2 is needed to better predict their industrial relevance. The main advantage of microalgae based wastewater treatment is that valuable biomass with unlimited applications is produced as a co-product. The aim of the current paper was to review microalgae based wastewater treatment processes focusing on strategies that allow increasing both biomass productivities and nutrient recoveries. Moreover, the benefits of microalgae based agricultural products were also discussed. [Display omitted] •Microalgae based wastewater treatment is sustainable and economically viable.•Raceway reactors allow processing large volumes of wastewater.•Operational conditions can influence the microalgae-bacteria consortia.•Up-scaling of current processes to over 100 m2 reactors is required.•Microalgal biomass can be used to produce high-value agricultural products.
ISSN:0045-6535
1879-1298
DOI:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.132968