Improvement of biohythane production from Chlorella sp. TISTR 8411 biomass by co-digestion with organic wastes in a two-stage fermentation
Introduction
Microalgal biomass as an alternative feedstock for biofuel production has more attention due to their high organic content, high photosynthetic efficiency, and high CO2 reduction from the environment [1]. However, the commercial microalgae-based biofuels production is not economically viable yet due to the characteristics of the strong cell wall. Microalgal biomass is high protein content as well as an inappropriate C/N ratio resulting in toxic ammonia releasing under anaerobic digestion process [2]. The low biodegradability of microalgal biomass under anaerobic digestion process is depending on the biochemical composition, the nature of the cell wall, and high protein contents [3]. The C/N ratio of microalgal biomass is generally lower than 10, which may cause ammonium inhibition in the anaerobic digestion process [4]. The ammonia can inhibit methanogenic archaea resulting in high volatile fatty acids (VFAs) accumulation in the digester [5]. The ammonia inhibition from high protein content in the microalgal biomass could be reduced through anaerobic co-digestion with a high carbon content substrate. Anaerobic co-digestion with suitable organic waste is a less energy demanding method for improving the anaerobic digestion performance [6]. Anaerobic co-digestion of a homogenous mixture of different organic wastes are also improving the biogas yield [7]. The main benefits of the anaerobic co-digestion process are dilute of toxic compounds in the main substrate, increase the load of biodegradable organic matter, improve the balance of nutrients, enhance microbial diversity, and improve biogas yield [8].
Soybean oil and glycerin were used as a co-substrate for anaerobic digestion of microalgal biomass harvested from wastewater treatment ponds with improving digestion efficiency and biogas yield [9]. Mata-Alvarez et al. [8] reported that the anaerobic digestion of solid waste with organic wastes could establish positive synergism and improved nutrients balance supporting the microbial growth. The anaerobic co-digestion of algal sludge with paper waste increased the methane production (1170 mL L−1) of 2 times compared with algal sludge alone (573 mL L−1) [10]. Zhen et al. [11] also found that anaerobic co-digestion of microalgal biomass with food waste could increase 4.9-fold of methane yield (639 mL CH4 gVS−1) comparing with microalgal alone (106 mL CH4 gVS−1). The anaerobic co-digestion of algal biomass with corn straw increased 62% of methane yield (325 mL CH4 gVS−1) when comparing with algal biomass alone (201 mL CH4 gVS−1) [12]. The anaerobic co-digestion of microalgal biomass with high available organic wastes in an Asian country such as empty fruit bunch (EFB), palm oil mill effluent (POME), molasses, Napier grass, and glycerol waste was not investigated. The EFB, POME, molasses, Napier grass, and glycerol waste are high carbon content and rich in macro-nutrients. The purpose of this work was to assess the possibility of biohythane production from Chlorella sp. TISTR 8411 biomass by co-digestion with organic wastes such as empty fruit bunch (EFB), palm oil mill effluent (POME), molasses, Napier grass, and glycerol waste via two-stage anaerobic digestion under thermophilic condition.
Section snippets
Chlorella sp. TISTR 8411 cultivation and harvesting
Chlorella sp. TISTR 8411 was obtained from the Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (TISTR), Pathumthani province, Thailand. The strain was cultivated in the BG-11 medium. This medium was composed of (per L of distilled water) 0.4 g NH4Cl, 75 mg MgSO4 *7H2O, 25 mg CaCl2 *2H2O, 11.42 mg H3BO, 4.98 mg FeSO4 * 7H2O, 50 mg EDTA, 31 mg KOH, 0.17 g KH2PO4, 75 mg K2HPO4, 25 mg NaCl, 2.42 g Tris (diluted together with 10 mL diluted acetic acid (1:20)), and 2 mL L−1 of a trace
Conclusions
Co-digestion of Chlorella biomass with organic wastes was significantly improved the biohythane production in term of yield, C/N ratio, gas production, and kinetics. The hydrogen and methane yield from co-digestion of Chlorella biomass with molasses, POME, and glycerol waste was increased by 8–100% and 80–264%, respectively when comparing with digestion Chlorella biomass alone. Co-digestion of Chlorella biomass with 2–6% TS of organic wastes was optimized for biohythane production with hydrogen
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT) (Grant No. กบง./2558-10), Research and Development Institute of Thaksin University (Grant No. 04–5/2559) and Thailand Research Fund (TRF) through Senior Research Scholar (Grant No. RTA5980004) and Mid-Career Research Grant (Grant No. RSA6180048).
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