Description
Sustainable production of microalgae for biofuel requires efficient phosphorus (P) utilization, which is a limited resource and vital for global food security. This research tracks the fate of P through biofuel production and investigates P recovery from the biomass using

Sustainable production of microalgae for biofuel requires efficient phosphorus (P) utilization, which is a limited resource and vital for global food security. This research tracks the fate of P through biofuel production and investigates P recovery from the biomass using the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. Our results show that Synechocystis contained 1.4% P dry weight. After crude lipids were extracted (e.g., for biofuel processing), 92% of the intracellular P remained in the residual biomass, indicating phospholipids comprised only a small percentage of cellular P. We estimate a majority of the P is primarily associated with nucleic acids. Advanced oxidation using hydrogen peroxide and microwave heating released 92% of the cellular P into orthophosphate. We then recovered the orthophosphate from the digestion matrix using two different types of anion exchange resins. One resin impregnated with iron nanoparticles adsorbed 98% of the influent P through 20 bed volumes, but only released 23% during regeneration. A strong-base anion exchange resin adsorbed 87% of the influent P through 20 bed volumes and released 50% of it upon regeneration. This recovered P subsequently supported growth of Synechocystis. This proof-of-concept recovery process reduced P demand of biofuel microalgae by 54%.
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Title
  • Phosphorus recovery from microbial biofuel residual using microwave peroxide digestion and anion exchange
Date Created
2015-03-01
Resource Type
  • Text
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    Identifier
    • Digital object identifier: 10.1016/j.watres.2014.11.052
    • Identifier Type
      International standard serial number
      Identifier Value
      0043-1354
    • Identifier Type
      International standard serial number
      Identifier Value
      1879-2448
    Note
    • NOTICE: this is the author's version of a work that was accepted for publication in WATER RESEARCH. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in WATER RESEARCH, 70, 130-137. DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2014.11.052

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    Gifford, McKay, Liu, Jianyong, Rittmann, Bruce E., Vannela, Raveender, & Westerhoff, Paul (2015). Phosphorus recovery from microbial biofuel residual using microwave peroxide digestion and anion exchange. WATER RESEARCH, 70, 130-137. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2014.11.052

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