Aquaculture Africa 2024

November 19 - 22, 2024

Hammamet, Tunisia

ALGAL BIOTECHNOLOGY TO REMEDIATE THE FOOD INDUSTRY WASTEWATER AND PRODUCTION OF EPA RICH BIOMASS FOR FISH FEED AQUACULTURE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE CIRCULAR BIOECONOMY

Alla Silkina*, Mohamed Emran, Jose Gayo Pelaez

 

Swansea University, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Bioscience department, Algal Research Group, Singleton Park SA2 8PP, Swansea, Wales. United Kingdom.

 

*Presenting author

a.silkina@swansea.ac.uk  (+447823880649)

 



Agricultural and food industry (brewery) waste treatment is one of the key elements of environmental impact with direct effects on the economy and society. Algal technology is designed to enable effective recycling and valorisation of water nutrients including carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus (Silkina 2019, Fernandes et al, 2022). In the context of the European ALGAEBREW1 project the integrated evaluation and optimisation of the sustainability of an algal biorefinery including mass and energy balances, carbon, water and nutrient use and impact analysis was assessed, and valuable EPA rich biomass was produced. A biorefinery approach of waste remediation using algal cultivation was developed at Swansea University, focusing on nutrient recovery via algal biomass in pilot facilities. Mass cultivation (up to 5,000 L) was developed with a 99% nitrogen and phosphorus uptake by microalgal cultures and production of valuable biomass. Cultivation in batch mode was followed by semi-continuous and continuous mode. Nannochloropsis oceanica (marine species) was used as a biological model and grown on nutrients waste sources. The obtained biomass was rich in nutrient content, especially for fatty acids composition. The algal biomass was used as component of aquaculture feed nutrition trial and for the extraction of valuable compounds, e.g EPA. Additionally, biomass residue was used as a biofertilizer component for soil improvement. Conclusions were drawn on the high potential of algal biotechnology for waste remediation and nutrient recovery in the context of circular bioeconomy, despite the need for further development and scalable applications of this new technology. 

 

  1. https://www.ucd.ie/algaebrew/
  2. Silkina, A.; Ginnever, N.E.; Fernandes, F.; Fuentes-grünewald, C. Large-Scale Waste Bio-Remediation Using Microalgae Cultivation as a Platform. Energies 2019, 12, 2772
  3. Fernandes, F.; Silkina, A.; Gayo-Peláez, J.I.; Kapoore, R.V.; de la Broise, D.; Llewellyn, C.A. Microalgae Cultivation on Nutrient Rich Digestate: The Importance of Strain and Digestate Tailoring under PH Control. Appl. Sci. 2022, 12, 5429. https://doi.org/10.3390/app12115429