Sustainable Bioenergy Production from Wastewater Using Microalgal Technology

Posted: 18 Jun 2019 Last revised: 17 Jul 2019

See all articles by Jae-Hoon Hwang

Jae-Hoon Hwang

University of Central Florida; University of Central Florida

Woo Hyoung Lee

University of Central Florida.

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: June 7, 2019

Abstract

The use of microalgae for direct biohydrogen generation has a great potential as an alternative to traditional bio-energy production due to zero emission CO2. Here, we demonstrate two feasibility studies of sustainable energy production using green microalgae: biohydrogen production from acetate-enriched wastewater. It is known that during photolysis, algae have a capability of producing molecular hydrogen gas (H2) by algal fermentative metabolisms. However, only sulfur and chloride deprivation, and nitrogen purging have been practiced under controlled conditions. As these approaches are not practical in real wastewater environments, identifying effective alternative oxygen regulation strategies is necessary for algal hydrogen production from natural and engineered systems such as wastewater treatment systems. In our study, acetate-enriched wastewater was used for regulating oxygen evolution from microalgae, leading to successful photosynthetic hydrogen production with an average hydrogen concentration of 108±4 µmol/L for Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and 85±15 µmol/L for Chlorella vulgaris, respectively in a continuous mode for 15 days at 100 µmol/m2/s of light intensity. Overall, this study showed promising renewable energy production strategies using green microalgae other than oxygen production, moving the current algal technology to the next level in wastewater treatment area.

Keywords: Acetate, Chlorella vulgaris, hydrogen, microalgae, oxygen regulator

Suggested Citation

Hwang, Jae-Hoon and Lee, Woo Hyoung, Sustainable Bioenergy Production from Wastewater Using Microalgal Technology (June 7, 2019). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3400500

Jae-Hoon Hwang

University of Central Florida ( email )

12800 Pegasus Dr. 211
Orlando, FL 32818
United States

University of Central Florida ( email )

4000 Central Florida Blvd
Orlando, FL 32816-1400
United States

Woo Hyoung Lee (Contact Author)

University of Central Florida. ( email )

407-823-5304 (Phone)

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