0000000000334149
AUTHOR
Lima S.
Pollutants removal from municipal sewage by means of microalgae
Microalgae are microorganisms able to photosynthesize, namely transforming inorganic substrates and sun light into organic compounds and chemical energy. The industry of microalgae has expanded in the last decades and several applications are now developed, making their biomass interesting under an economic perspective. Nannochlopsis gaditana is one of the most interesting species already employed in industry because of its high content in lipids that could be employed as source for biodiesel synthesis but also in other fields such as cosmetic and pharmaceutic. One of the most promising application is the exploitation of microalgal grow for bioremediating wastewaters polluted with inorganic…
Catalytic Conversion of Glucose and Chlorella sp. into Furans in the Presence of Niobium Oxide
A series of Nb2O5 solid catalysts have been prepared to be used for the catalytic dehydration of glucose and sugars from algae Chlorella sp. into added value furans. The glucose transformation gave rise to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF). Chlorella sp. was used in the same catalytic conditions to be valorised to furans. By preliminary studies we concluded that the algae aqueous suspension needed a previous treatment in the presence of SiO2 pellets to liberate the carbohydrates that in the catalytic reaction in the presence of Nb2O5 materials gave rise 5-HMF and furfural. The best operative conditions and Nb2O5 catalysts were individuated. The most performant Nb2O5 catalyst also showed an ex…
Civil Wastewater Remediation through Employment of Indigenous Microalgae and Sewage Sludge
Microalgae are photosynthetic microorganisms that can employ some inorganic pollutant compounds as nutrients, for example nitrates and phosphates. Traditional wastewater treatment comprises oxidation ponds in which the Activated Sludge performs the oxidation of the organic matter. Microalgae may be well applied in these processes. In this work, we tested the potential of remediation of a mixture of a local microalga, Chlorella sp. Pozzillo, and activated sludge and compared it to controls of only microalga and only activated sludge. We found that the mixture of bacteria and microalgae leads to an improvement in nitrogen removal up to the 83,68%, while phosphorous removal is improved when th…