Hi! Since microalgae wastewater treatment, specifically, nutrient removal is such a classical, yet ever so trending topic, I'm looking for a research gap in the particular area. I would happy to receive any recommendations from the experts mainly on optimizing the growing and increasing nutrient uptake rates, and also recovery of value-added products from biomass!
Thank you!
Hi Björn, thank you very much for the well-detailed input for this discussion! I am still trying to find out my niche in algal biotechnology. I will definitely consider these points you highlighted for my research!
Regards,
Anton
Hey Anton,
The main problem is land requirement. To process urban wastewater a bioreactor of approximately 4-5 square meters per inhabitant is needed. This means that for a 200,000 people city we would need a 100 ha reactor, which is not feasible. We are working on this and some strategies that are being studied at the moment are very promising.
The most valuable product that could be obtained from such a biomass are products foragriculture, which have a huge demand especially biostimulants and could also promote a reduction on the use of chemical fertilisers.
Good luck!
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