Advanced oxidative processes as tools to lower the toxicity of vinasse aiming the cultivation of filamentous fungi

• Grant number: 19/08997-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2019
• End date: May 31, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Chemical Engineering - Chemical Process Industries
• Principal Investigator: Heizir Ferreira de Castro
• Grantee: Thiago Maziero Alves
• Host Institution: Escola de Engenharia de Lorena (EEL). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Lorena , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 16/10636-8 - From the cell factory to the Biodiesel-Bioethanol integrated biorefinery: a systems approach applied to complex problems in micro and macroscales, AP.BIOEN.TEM

Abstract

Vinasse pre-treatment is an important step to reduce toxicity to the cultivation of microorganisms of biotechnological interest. The use of vinasse pretreatment using ozone, for example, has demonstrated that the degradation of inhibitory compounds, such as phenolic compounds, promoted an increase in the accumulation of biomass and lipids by Mucor circinelloides within the range of 30%. However, the conditions applied by ozone generated post-processing steps that may be technically unfeasible for process scheduling, such as ozone purging by aeration, addition of carbonate to the medium for peroxide removal, and pH shift. In this context, it is pertinent to evaluate the efficiency of other advanced oxidative processes that can decrease the number of operational stages of the process, as well as to supplement the vinasse treated with low-cost nutrients. For this, two types of homogeneous systems are suggested: (i) UV, (ii) Fe2 + (Fenton) and (iii) Photo-Fenton, a combination of systems i and ii. Among the options to be developed in the process of viability of vinasse as the base of the culture medium for the fungus M. circinelloides, the effect of nutrient addition, especially nitrogen compounds, will also be analyzed. Tests will be carried out with low-cost N sources, such as ammonium salts, for supplementation in the cell growth process, aiming at the complementation of naturally absent compounds in the vinasse. Thus, the research project is expected to promote an efficient route for the removal of inhibitory

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

RODRIGUES REIS, CRISTIANO E.; CARVALHO, ANA K. F.; BENTO, HEITOR B. S.; ALVES, THIAGO M.; DE CASTRO, HEIZIR F.. Lowering the inhibition of sugarcane vinasse as a culture medium for oleaginous fungi through oxidative pre-treatment aiming at the degradation of toxic compounds. JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY, v. 95, n. 11, MAY 2020. (17/12908-8, 16/10636-8, 19/08997-0)