(228an) Waste Water Treatment Using Field Deployable Macroalgal Tissue Culture
AIChE Annual Meeting
2016
2016 AIChE Annual Meeting
Food, Pharmaceutical & Bioengineering Division
Poster Session: Bioengineering
Monday, November 14, 2016 - 3:15pm to 5:45pm
well as break down recalcitrant compounds, e.g. trinitrotoluene (TNT), while synthesizing
halogenated compounds which have antibiotic, antifungal and antitumoral properties. The
macroalgae also produce high levels of compounds relevant to biofuels, such as terpenes and
cyclic sesquiterpenes. The metabolic pathways that allow the synthesis and breakdown of
cyclic compounds may also enable the capability to remediate phenolics or other wastes from
agricultural and petrochemical industries. Hence, initially, we aim to produce preliminary
data to develop a field-deployable macroalgal tissue culture system for the bioremediation of
surface waters in a â??waste to valueâ? process that will simultaneously produce bioactive
compounds or biofuels. Further, we propose a field-deployable, â??biogenic packed bed,â? high
cell-culture density system and determine nutrient, metal and phenolic removal capacities.
Therefore, this study has investigated a high density cultivation system and quantified the
ability to remove nutrient loads from agricultural wastewater. Additionally, because the
biomass itself can also be used as a fertilizer or animal feed, the objective of the study is
directly related to the water-energy- food nexus.
Keywords: Photobioreactor, Macroalgae, Waste water treatment, Biofuel, Terpenes,
Bioactive compounds, Bioremediation