Efficient Nitrogen Recovery from Agro-Energy Effluents for Cyanobacteria Cultivation ( Spirulina )

Luca Attene, Andrea Deiana, Alessandra Carucci, Giorgia De Gioannis, Fabiano Asunis and Claudio Ledda ()
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Luca Attene: Department of Civil-Environmental Engineering and Architecture, University of Cagliari, Via Marengo 2, 09123 Cagliari, Italy
Andrea Deiana: Livegreen Società Agricola S.r.l., Vico Episcopio 12, 09170 Oristano, Italy
Alessandra Carucci: Department of Civil-Environmental Engineering and Architecture, University of Cagliari, Via Marengo 2, 09123 Cagliari, Italy
Giorgia De Gioannis: Department of Civil-Environmental Engineering and Architecture, University of Cagliari, Via Marengo 2, 09123 Cagliari, Italy
Fabiano Asunis: Department of Civil-Environmental Engineering and Architecture, University of Cagliari, Via Marengo 2, 09123 Cagliari, Italy
Claudio Ledda: Livegreen Società Agricola S.r.l., Vico Episcopio 12, 09170 Oristano, Italy

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: The present study aimed to obtain an efficient liquid nitrogen fertilizer from the by-product of anaerobic digestion for its subsequent use in the production of cyanobacteria ( Spirulina ). A simple recovery technology was tested based on the stripping and acid absorption, modifying temperature (50 and 70 °C) and pH (10 and 12), of the ammonia nitrogen contained in the digestate produced in a large-scale plant treating livestock manure and grass silage. The results demonstrated how, at a relatively low temperature (50 °C), using sulfuric and citric acid solution, it is possible to recover nitrogen from a digestate in the form of ammonium sulfate and ammonium citrate with yields of 70% and 72.1% respectively. By carrying out Spirulina growth tests, promising results were obtained under semicontinuous production, with a maximum dry biomass daily productivity of 0.344 g L −1 day −1 with ammonium sulfate and 0.246 gDW L −1 day −1 with ammonium citrate. The results showed that nitrogen can be efficiently recovered on site by using the organic acid, digestate and waste heat from anaerobic digestion for Spirulina biomass production.

Keywords: ammonia stripping; nitrogen recovery; anaerobic digestate; livestock manure; ammonium sulfate; ammonium citrate; Spirulina (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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