Outflow from a Biogas Plant as a Medium for Microalgae Biomass Cultivation—Pilot Scale Study and Technical Concept of a Large-Scale Installation

Marcin Zieliński, Marcin Dębowski and Joanna Kazimierowicz
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Marcin Zieliński: Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Geoengineering, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 10-720 Olsztyn, Poland
Marcin Dębowski: Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Geoengineering, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 10-720 Olsztyn, Poland
Joanna Kazimierowicz: Department of Water Supply and Sewage Systems, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences, Bialystok University of Technology, 15-351 Bialystok, Poland

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 8, 1-18

Abstract: Microalgae-based technologies have huge potential for application in the environment sector and the bio-energy industry. However, their cost-efficiency has to be improved by drawing on design and operation data for large-scale installations. This paper presents a technical concept of an installation for large-scale microalgae culture on digestate liquor, and the results of a pilot-scale study to test its performance. The quality of non-treated digestate has been shown to be insufficient for direct use as a growth medium due to excess suspended solids, turbidity, and organic matter content, which need to be reduced. To that end, this paper proposes a system based on mechanical separation, flotation, and pre-treatment on a biofilter. The culture medium fed into photobioreactors had the following parameters after the processing: COD—340 mgO 2 /dm 3 , BOD 5 —100 mgO 2 /dm 3 , TN—900 mg/dm 3 , and TP—70 mg/dm 3 . The installation can produce approx. 720 kg VS /day of microalgal biomass. A membrane unit and a thickening centrifuge (thickener) were incorporated into the design to separate and dehydrate the microalgal biomass, respectively. The total energy consumption approximated 1870 kWh/day.

Keywords: microalgae; biogas plant; digestate; photobioreactor; large-scale installation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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