Anaerobic digestion of wastewater generated from the hydrothermal liquefaction of Spirulina: Toxicity assessment and minimization. (1st June 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zheng, Mingxia; Schideman, Lance C.; Tommaso, Giovana; Chen, Wan-Ting; Zhou, Yan; Nair, Ken; Qian, Wanyi; Zhang, Yuanhui; Wang, Kaijun
• Is Part Of: Energy conversion and management. Volume 141(2017)
• Page Start: 420
• Page End: 428
• Publication Date: 2017-06-01
• Subjects: ATA anaerobic toxicity assay -- COD chemical oxygen demand -- C/N ratio carbon/nitrogen ratio -- E2-Energy system Environment-Enhancing Energy system -- GAC granular activated carbon -- HTL hydrothermal liquefaction -- HTL-WW hydrothermal liquefaction wastewater -- I percent inhibition -- NH4+-N ammonia nitrogen -- PM polyurethane matrices -- RPA total relative peak area -- SCOD soluble chemical oxygen demand -- TCD thermal conductivity detector -- TN total nitrogen -- TOC total organic carbon -- TP total phosphorus -- TS total solid -- VFA volatile fatty acid -- VS volatile solid -- VSS volatile suspended solid; Biogas -- Hydrothermal liquefaction wastewater -- Adsorbents -- Biofilm -- Detoxification -- Algae; Direct energy conversion -- Periodicals; Energy storage -- Periodicals; Energy transfer -- Periodicals; Énergie -- Conversion directe -- Périodiques; Direct energy conversion; Periodicals; 621.3105
• DOI: 10.1016/j.enconman.2016.10.034
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0196-8904

Abstract

Graphical abstract: Highlights: Nutrient reuse and energy recovery of HTL-WW are realized. Anaerobic digestion of HTL-WW is vital to the sustainability of algal biocrude. An anaerobic toxicity assay was conducted to evaluate HTL-WW toxicity. The presence of adsorbents and biofilms effectively minimized inhibition. A portion of the toxic compounds could be removed after anaerobic digestion. Abstract: Previous studies demonstrate anaerobic digestion of hydrothermal liquefaction wastewater (HTL-WW) is significant to the sustainability of algal biofuel development for nutrient reuse and residual energy recovery. HTL-WW contains substantial amounts of residual energy but is toxic to anaerobes. With 6% HTL-WW converted from cyanobacteria (e.g. Spirulina ), anaerobes were 50% inhibited. In this study, zeolite, granular activated carbon (GAC), and polyurethane matrices (PM) were used during a two-round anaerobic batch test with HTL-WW, and in the presence of each material, the total methane yields were 136 mL/g COD, 169 mL/g COD, and 168 mL/g COD, respectively, being 11%, 37% and 36% higher than the control. GAC was considered promising due to its highest methane yield of 124 mL/g COD at the second feeding, indicating a good recovery of adsorption capacity. The observed low methane production rates indicated the necessity for anaerobic process optimization. The physicochemical analysis of the digestates demonstrated that most of the compounds identified in the HTL-WW were degraded.