Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering and Computing, Manipal International University, 71800 Putra Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia
  • 2 Chemical Engineering Department, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, 32610 Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia; HICoE-Centre for Biofuel and Biochemical Research (CBBR), Institute for Self-sustainable Building, 32610 Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia
  • 3 Chemical Engineering Department, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, 32610 Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia; HICoE-Centre for Biofuel and Biochemical Research (CBBR), Institute for Self-sustainable Building, 32610 Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia. Electronic address: lam.mankee@utp.edu.my
  • 4 HICoE-Centre for Biofuel and Biochemical Research (CBBR), Institute for Self-sustainable Building, 32610 Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia; Department of Fundamental and Applied Sciences, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, 32610 Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia
  • 5 Department of Chemical Engineering, Curtin University, Sarawak Campus CDT 250, 98009 Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia
  • 6 Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Jalan Broga, Semenyih 43500, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 7 School of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Engineering Campus, Seri Ampangan, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
Sci Total Environ, 2022 Jan 10;803:150070.
PMID: 34525689 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.150070

Abstract

To suffice the escalating global energy demand, microalgae are deemed as high potential surrogate feedstocks for liquid fuels. The major encumbrance for the commercialization of microalgae cultivation is due to the high costs of nutrients such as carbon, phosphorous, and nitrogen. Meanwhile, the organic-rich anaerobic digestate which is difficult to be purified by conventional techniques is appropriate to be used as a low-cost nutrient source for the economic viability and sustainability of microalgae production. This option is also beneficial in terms of reutilize the organic fraction of solid waste instead of discarded as zero-value waste. Anaerobic digestate is the side product of biogas production during anaerobic digestion process, where optimum nutrients are needed to satisfy the physiological needs to grow microalgae. Besides, the turbidity, competing biological contaminants, ammonia and metal toxicity of the digestate are also potentially contributing to the inhibition of microalgae growth. Thus, this review is aimed to explicate the feasibility of utilizing the anaerobic digestate to cultivate microalgae by evaluating their potential challenges and solutions. The proposed potential solutions (digestate dilution and pre-treatment, microalgae strain selection, extra organics addition, nitrification and desulfurization) corresponding to the state-of-the-art challenges are applicable as future directions of the research.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.