Cultivation and anaerobic digestion of Scenedesmus spp. grown in a pilot-scale open raceway
Cultivation and anaerobic digestion of Scenedesmus spp. grown in a pilot-scale open raceway
Digestibility of a micro-algal mixture was evaluated by mesophilic anaerobic digestion in continuously-stirred tank reactors. The culture consisted primarily of Scenedesmus spp. continuously cultivated over a 6-month period in a 100 m2 raceway reactor instrumented to record pH, dissolved oxygen and temperature. The raceway received supplementary carbon in the form of flue gas from a diesel boiler (10% CO2) injected into a 1-m deep sump to control pH in the range 7.8–8.0. Dilution was optimised to biomass productivity and gave values of 10–15 and 20–25 g total suspended solids (TSS) m? 2 day? 1 in winter (December–February) and spring (April–May), respectively. The culture for the anaerobic digestion trial was harvested in February by centrifugation to give an algal paste containing 4.3% volatile solids (VS). Semi-continuous digestion at organic loading rates of 2.00, 2.75 and 3.50 g VS l? 1 day? 1 gave volumetric biogas productions of ~ 0.66, ~ 0.83 and ~ 0.99 l l? 1 day? 1, respectively. Specific methane yield ranged from 0.13 to 0.14 l CH4 g? 1 VSadded with biogas methane content ~ 62%. Overall the digestion process was stable, but only ~ 30% VS destruction was achieved indicating low biodegradability, due to the short retention times and the recalcitrant nature of this type of biomass
micro-algae, scenedesmus spp, raceway, flue gas, anaerobic digestion, biodegradability
95-102
Tran, K.C.
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Mendoza Martin, J.L.
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Heaven, S.
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Banks, C.J.
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Acien Fernandez, F.G.
55fc3e5d-9472-40dd-bc2d-6076d5534e03
Molina Grima, E.
7a7ae134-03cf-42ec-92db-6bfbf437e887
July 2014
Tran, K.C.
29c4205b-6146-44bf-bb6f-30490a08fbd8
Mendoza Martin, J.L.
0a608a64-f760-4cb0-91c7-6c32f5dd7821
Heaven, S.
f25f74b6-97bd-4a18-b33b-a63084718571
Banks, C.J.
5c6c8c4b-5b25-4e37-9058-50fa8d2e926f
Acien Fernandez, F.G.
55fc3e5d-9472-40dd-bc2d-6076d5534e03
Molina Grima, E.
7a7ae134-03cf-42ec-92db-6bfbf437e887
Tran, K.C., Mendoza Martin, J.L., Heaven, S., Banks, C.J., Acien Fernandez, F.G. and Molina Grima, E.
(2014)
Cultivation and anaerobic digestion of Scenedesmus spp. grown in a pilot-scale open raceway.
Algal Research, 5, .
(doi:10.1016/j.algal.2014.06.001).
Abstract
Digestibility of a micro-algal mixture was evaluated by mesophilic anaerobic digestion in continuously-stirred tank reactors. The culture consisted primarily of Scenedesmus spp. continuously cultivated over a 6-month period in a 100 m2 raceway reactor instrumented to record pH, dissolved oxygen and temperature. The raceway received supplementary carbon in the form of flue gas from a diesel boiler (10% CO2) injected into a 1-m deep sump to control pH in the range 7.8–8.0. Dilution was optimised to biomass productivity and gave values of 10–15 and 20–25 g total suspended solids (TSS) m? 2 day? 1 in winter (December–February) and spring (April–May), respectively. The culture for the anaerobic digestion trial was harvested in February by centrifugation to give an algal paste containing 4.3% volatile solids (VS). Semi-continuous digestion at organic loading rates of 2.00, 2.75 and 3.50 g VS l? 1 day? 1 gave volumetric biogas productions of ~ 0.66, ~ 0.83 and ~ 0.99 l l? 1 day? 1, respectively. Specific methane yield ranged from 0.13 to 0.14 l CH4 g? 1 VSadded with biogas methane content ~ 62%. Overall the digestion process was stable, but only ~ 30% VS destruction was achieved indicating low biodegradability, due to the short retention times and the recalcitrant nature of this type of biomass
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Published date: July 2014
Keywords:
micro-algae, scenedesmus spp, raceway, flue gas, anaerobic digestion, biodegradability
Organisations:
Water & Environmental Engineering Group
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 366637
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/366637
ISSN: 2211-9264
PURE UUID: 6415c71a-398a-4749-9043-7f33139f8745
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Date deposited: 07 Jul 2014 08:44
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 02:52
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Contributors
Author:
K.C. Tran
Author:
J.L. Mendoza Martin
Author:
F.G. Acien Fernandez
Author:
E. Molina Grima
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