Advanced oxidation processes with Uv-H2O2 for nitrification and decolorization of dyehouse wastewater

In this work, a UV/H2O2 system was evaluated using an experimental design 2 level I-optimal response surface design to analyze the effect of temperature, pH, UV lamp power (W), and H2O2 concentration on dye load removal and nitrification from industrial cleaning wastewater. Results showed that the optimum conditions were 80 °C, pH 4, PW-UV 60 W, and H2O2 3.1 Mol*L-1. Removal percentages of 45% for COD, 47.5% color, 87% Fe, 82% Cr and 91% ammonium oxidation to nitrate were achieved. It can be concluded that the effluents treated by this process could be promising for reuse and exploitation in biotechnological tools through microalgae and cyanobacteria

Design of an electroflotation system for the concentration and harvesting of freshwater microalgae

Microalgae are considered as one of the most promising alternatives for the integrated use of agro-industrial water residues and the production of metabolites of high industrial interest. This is due to algae can grow on wastewater which in turn can reduce the emission of nutrients to rivers and lakes. However, the greatest scientific-technological barrier is the concentration and separation of the biomass produced. There are several processes used at different levels (from laboratory to industrial scale) such as flocculation, centrifugation, flotation, etc. These can be very expensive or can (possibly) contaminate the biomass. Unlike the previous ones, electroflotation has been proposed as a cost-efficient method, nevertheless its final efficiency will depend heavily on the type of alga and culture medium. Taking into account the above, the present project aims to design an electroflotation system for the concentration and harvest of microalgae biomass. The effect of several factors (pH, time, voltage and distance between the electrodes) and for types of materials (Copper, Aluminium, Iron and Steel) on biomass recovery efficiency from a culture of Chlorella vulgaris UTEX 1803 was evaluated by the implementation of a Design of experiments (43 non-factorial design) using STATISTICA 7.0. Results show that, the materials with higher concentration efficiency were cooper and aluminium with 40 and 80% respectively, and the most relevant factors were distance between electrodes (1-2 cm), time (>20 min) and Voltage (>15V). In order to increase the efficiency of the overall process a new 43 experimental factorial design was proposed using as factors distance between electrodes, time, voltage and agitation. Results show that agitation positively affects the total efficiency until reaching a total concentration of the biomass (100%). It was found that a voltage close to 50V and a time greater than 25 min positively affect the final efficiency of the copper and aluminium electrodes, however aluminium has the highest efficiency (> 95%) compared to copper (<85%)

Fisheries wastewater as a sustainable media for the production of algae-based products

Colombian intensive fish production is concentrated mainly in the departments of the Andean Region, Amazon, and Orinoquía. These systems were characterized for being exploited mainly by family farming nuclei, which are dedicated exclusively to breeding and others with mixed systems. Currently, the sustainable development of this economic line depends on two factors: global warming and the consumption of resources (energy, fresh water, and protein). The rapid growth of this socio-economic line has led to the development of 3 critical restrictions: the demand for food for fish production, the high volume of fresh water needed and the high concentration of wastewater which must be disposed of safely. Sewage from closed fish farming systems has high levels of nitrogen and inorganic phosphorus dissolved in the systems. The primary responsibility for these high contents is the feed which contributes to the sustained increase in the concentration of organic waste and toxic compounds in aquatic systems. To make use of this wastewater, the use of these as a culture medium for microalgal production has been studied in order to generate metabolites of industrial interest from a low-cost culture medium. In this work, the necessary culture conditions for the biomass production of Scenedesmus obliquus, Chlorella vulgaris, Spirulina maxima, and Oscillatoria sp. in fish farming wastewater to produce pigments and total biomass are evaluated. The wastewater was obtained from an intensive fish farming company in El Zulia (Norte de Santander, Colombia). The medium was UV-sterilized (4 Lamps of 15W, 5 minutes). In order to optimize the production of biomass and pigments, the wastewater was adjusted with the addition of nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon (K2HPO4 + NaNO3 + NaHCO3) According to the results, the residual water enriched with K2HPO4, NaNO3 and NaHCO3 presented the best culture conditions for obtaining carotenoids (in C. vulgaris and S. obliquus with values of 2.6 and 1.7% p/p respectively) and Phycobiliproteins in Spirulina maxima and Oscillatoria sp (10.9 and 11% p/p respectively). These results allow concluding that the residual water of fish systems is outlined as a suitable culture medium that can be used to produce metabolites of interest. Also, this culture medium must be enriched in order to increase the productivity of the system

The circular economy approach to improving CNP ratio in inland fishery wastewater for increasing algal biomass production

In this work, the capacity of wastewater from an inland fishery system in Colombia (Norte de Santander) was tested as culture medium for Chlorella sp. and Scenedesmus sp. Due to insufficient N and P concentrations for successful algae growth, the effect of wastewater replenishment with NO3, PO4, and Na2CO3 or NaHCO3 as a carbon source was analyzed using a three-factor nonfactorial response surface design. The results showed that the addition of NaNO3 (0.125 g/L), K2HPO4 (0.075 g/L), KH2PO4 (0.75 g/L), and NaHCO3 (0.5 and 2 g/L for Chlorella sp. and Scenedesmus sp. respectively) significantly increased the biomass of Chlorella sp. (0.87 g/L) and Scenedesmus sp. (0.83 g/L). Although these results show that the addition of other nutrients is not necessary (Na, Mg, SO4, Ca, etc.), it is still essential to determine the quality of the biomass produced in terms of its application as a feed supplement for fish production

The effect of temperature and enzyme concentration in the transesterification process of synthetic microalgae oil

Throughout the world, the fossil fuel has supplied around the 80% of the energetic requirements, in Colombia alone 95.1% of energetic demand is made by the transportation sector solely, supplied by oil, kerosene, gasoline and diesel, this sector has an extremely small participation with biofuel of 3%, which is represented only by biodiesel. Microalgae had been proposed as biofactories with a remarkable third generation biofuels production. The culture of the microorganism comprehends interesting characteristics as countless environments where its natural growth could be replicated in fresh, salty and even sewage waters, with a higher growth rate and a higher oil production. The implementation of enzymes in the transesterification process have generated a good curiosity in the field, due to its mild reactions conditions, lesser energetic requirements, a high standard in the selection of the enzymes with the objective of avoiding the formation of soaps, creating in this way cleaner products and sub-products, in which the separation of the phases biodiesel/glycerol, give the possibility to recuperate the bio catalyzer and high output of reactions. However, the high volume of medium required to obtain lipids is one of the major drawbacks to test the viability of these enzymes. The present study aims to design an enzymatic transesterification process for the production of biodiesel form synthetic Chlorella oil. The synthetic oil was designed according to the lipid profile of C 16:0, C16:1, C18:0, C18:1, C18:2 and C18:3 from Chlorella spp CHL2 cultured on Bold Basal media under limited concentrations of NaNO3. The enzymatic transesterification efficiency was evaluated by the implementation of a 22 experimental factorial design (temperature and lipase concentration) under a 3: 1 molar ratio of alcohol:oil and a fixed reaction time of 6 hours. The obtained results show that, in order to obtain superior yields of biodiesel (>91%) the transesterification process must be carried out under temperature conditions close to 38°C and lipase concentrations of 5%

A simulation analysis of a microalgal-production plant for the transformation of inland-fisheries wastewater in sustainable feed

The present research evaluates the simulation of a system for transforming inland-fisheries wastewater into sustainable fish feed using Designer® software. The data required were obtained from the experimental cultivation of Chlorella sp. in wastewater supplemented with N and P. According to the results, it is possible to produce up to 11,875 kg/year (31.3 kg/d) with a production cost of up to 18 (USD/kg) for dry biomass and 0.19 (USD/bottle) for concentrated biomass. Similarly, it was possible to establish the kinetics of growth of substrate-dependent biomass with a maximum production of 1.25 g/L after 15 days and 98% removal of available N coupled with 20% of P. It is essential to note the final production efficiency may vary depending on uncontrollable variables such as climate and quality of wastewater, among others

A simulation analysis of an influenza vaccine production plant in areas of high humanitarian flow. A preliminary study for the region of norte de santander (colombia)

The production of vaccines of biological origin presents a tremendous challenge for re-searchers. In this context, animal cell cultures are an excellent alternative for the isolation and production of biologicals against several viruses, since they have an affinity with viruses and a great capacity for their replicability. Different variables have been studied to know the system’s ideal parameters, allowing it to obtain profitable and competitive products. Consequently, this work fo-cuses its efforts on evaluating an alternative for producing an anti‐influenza biological from MDCK cells using SuperPro Designer v8.0 software. The process uses the DMEN culture medium supple-mented with nutrients as raw material for cell development; the MDCK cells were obtained from a potential scale‐up with a final working volume of 500 L, four days of residence time, inoculum volume of 10%, and continuous working mode with up to a total of 7400 h/Yr of work. The scheme has the necessary equipment for the vaccine’s production, infection, and manufacture with yields of up to 416,698 units/h. In addition, it was estimated to be economically viable to produce recom-binant vaccines with competitive prices of up to 0.31 USD/unit

The effect of LEDs on biomass and phycobiliproteins production in thermotolerant oscillatoria sp

Featured Application: The selection of LEDs wavelength, intensity, and light: Dark cycle positively enhances the biomass production and phycocyanin synthesis in Oscillatoria sp. This study evaluates the role of different LED lights (white, blue/red), intensity (µmol m−2 s−1), and photoperiod in the production of biomass and phycocyanin-C, allophycocyanin and phycoerythrin (C-PC, APC, and PE respectively) from a novel thermotolerant strain of Oscillatoria sp. Results show that a mixture of white with blue/red LEDs can effectively double the biomass concentration up to 1.3 g/L, while the concentration of the selected phycobiliproteins increased proportionally to biomass. Results also indicate that high light intensities (>120 µmol m−2 s−1) can diminish the final concentration of C-PC, APC, and PE, significantly reducing the overall biomass produced. Finally, the photoperiod analysis showed that longer light exposure times (18:6 h) improved both biomass and phycobiliproteins concentration. These results demonstrate that the application of LEDs to produce a novel strain of Oscillatoria sp can double the biomass concentration, and the photoperiod regulation can eventually enhance the final concentration of specific phycobiliproteins such as APC and PE