Descripción del proyecto
Dos procesos para una recuperación eficaz de nutrientes mediante algas
El biogás es un gas combustible que proporciona una cantidad considerable de una forma de energía renovable. Como tal, las biorrefinerías basadas en la digestión anaerobia desempeñan un papel importante. El proyecto financiado con fondos europeos ALGALVANISE destaca que es importante que la industria del biogás adopte un método de digestión anaerobia, y las algas son un elemento fundamental en esta transición. Las algas pueden asimilar nutrientes de forma eficiente, a la vez que producen biomasa rica en proteínas, lípidos, hidratos de carbono, vitaminas y minerales. Sin embargo, el problema es que las algas son difíciles de producir y cultivar. Con esto en mente, ALGALVANISE desarrollará dos procesos para recuperar nutrientes de forma eficiente a partir de las algas: el cultivo potenciado con la ayuda de enzimas y la biofloculación combinatoria mediante el uso de bacterias y biopolímeros.
Objetivo
The anaerobic digestion (AD) industry is currently facing serious environmental and economic challenges due to the restrictions on the usage of digestate (the slurry residue of the process), coupled with reductions in subsidies for biogas production. It is important for the biogas industry to shift towards an AD biorefinery approach to make valuable co-products from the digestate fraction while recovering nutrients. Algae is an efficient tool for recovering the nutrients due to its ability to assimilate the nutrients efficiently while producing biomass rich in proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals. However, there are no relevant commercially-operating algal digestate treatment plants due to the high energy inputs required for producing and harvesting the algae. ALGALVANISE will advance the state-of-the art by developing two novel concepts: 1) enzyme-assisted enhanced algal cultivation; and 2) combinatorial bioflocculation using bacteria and biopolymers. These two processes are targeted towards efficient nutrient recovery by algae from the digestate and harvesting high-quality algal biomass to produce high-value functional ingredients. The proposed body of research involves extensive training of the hosted researcher in the development of skills that will have a clear positive impact regarding her professional development and career opportunities. It is expected that ALGALVANISE will enable the Researcher to progress significantly with regards to her career goals, a primary one regards being an independent researcher that can develop commercially-relevant high-impact research projects that develop and demonstrate innovations that can ultimately be deployed at flagship facilities. The innovations developed in ALGALVANISE could themselves ultimately lead to a flagship AD-algal biorefinery or they could develop the Researcher’s skills to such a degree that she could lead flagship projects, based on other technologies, in the future.
Ámbito científico
- engineering and technologyenvironmental biotechnologybioremediationbioreactors
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesmicrobiologyphycology
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculeslipids
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculescarbohydrates
- agricultural sciencesagricultural biotechnologybiomass
Programa(s)
Régimen de financiación
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinador
V94 Limerick
Irlanda
Organización definida por ella misma como pequeña y mediana empresa (pyme) en el momento de la firma del acuerdo de subvención.