MicroAlgae 4.0 is a research and career development project that aims to develop a Water Resource and Recovery Facility (WRRF) scheme based on microalgae cultivation biotechnology to maximise reclaimed water production and nutrient recovery from wastewater, produce by-products from microalgae biomass, and to minimise environmental pollution. To this aim, MicroAlgae 4.0 will focus on overcoming the barriers that hinder the wide implementation of microalgae-based systems by improving the performance and reliability of the process, developing innovative digital tools that monitor and automate the system, and assuring the safety of the by-products obtained.
MicroAlgae 4.0 follows some principles recognised in the European Green Deal, specifically: i) Circular Economy (CE) principles; ii) safety in reclaimed water and nutrient management; iii) digitalisation; iv) water-energy-food-ecosystems (WEFE) Nexus approach; and v) the zero-pollution ambition. Microalgae cultivation biotechnology appears as one of the main approaches to develop CE in the water and waste sectors due to their capacity to recover nutrients from wastewater. Microalgae present other advantages: act as carbon sink, valuable biomass can be obtained, can grow in non-arable lands, can be cultivated in different wastewater streams and are capable of oxidising pollutants of emerging concern (photocatalysis). Previous studies on microalgae-based wastewater treatment have mainly focused on design factors and on the removal of organic matter, solids and nutrients. However, wide implementation of microalgae technology in WRRF schemes is still lacking, mainly due to: i) the difficulty to reach and maintain steady state (due to variable conditions and the proliferation of competing organisms); ii) poor monitoring and automation which usually entails high operating costs; iii) scarce information related to the removal emerging pollutants (pharmaceuticals, endocrine disruptors, microplastics, metals); iv) legal, political and social barriers in the application of CE; v) lack of information in terms of possible risks in the use of reclaimed water and nutrients in agriculture. MicroAlgae 4.0 tries to overcome these barriers and go beyond the current state-of-the-art due to its innovative approach and the alignment with current European policies.
The knowledge, techniques and digital tools developed in MicroAlgae 4.0 are achieved by pursueing the following objectives:
- To implement microalgae cultivation technology to maximise the recovery of reclaimed water, nutrients, and energy from urban wastewater in a WRRF scheme.
- To assess and manage the developed microalgae-based WRRF scheme to ensure the economic and environmental feasibility and safety in a Circular Economy approach.
- To simulate, model and develop ICA systems for the microalgae cultivation system evaluated to improve the reliability and feasibility of the microalgae cultivation system.
By achieving these objectives, it is expected that:
i) the reliability and stability of the microalgae cultivation process improve, since outdoor cultivation systems are rarely continuously operated in the long term (time scale of years);
ii) the development of digital tools for microalgae-based systems help to maximise resource recovery. This is a promising and scarcely developed topic in this kind of systems;
iii) data and information concerning safe water reuse from microalgae-based systems is increased. Most of microalgae systems studied so far focus on the recovery of the microalgae biomass, but scarce information can be found about water reuse and nutrient management.
