Hydrogen production by Anabaena sp. and Chlamydomonas sp. from wastewater as alternative to renewable fuel production

• Grant number: 18/16948-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: February 01, 2020
• End date: August 04, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Sanitary Engineering - Water Supply and Wastewater Treatment
• Principal Investigator: Marcelo Zaiat
• Grantee: Sarah Regina Vargas
• Host Institution: Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos (EESC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 15/06246-7 - Biorefinery concept applied to biological wastewater treatment plants: environmental pollution control coupled with material and energy recovery, AP.TEM

Abstract

It is growing need for the development of new technologies for the production of renewable energy, due to the possible depletion of sources fossil fuel and because they are polluting. Therefore, new methods and technologies for the generation of biofuels have been developed, such as hydrogen. Hydrogen is energy carrier clean, abundant in the universe and renewable, and an effective way to produce it biologically is by microalgae and cyanobacteria. Cyanobacteria and microalgae are abundant in aquatic ecosystems, and using wastewater as their culture medium, could provide hydrogen production and treatment them. Accordingly, the objective of this research is to produce hydrogen with the cyanobacteria Anabaena sp. (1448 - UTEX) and Chlamydomonas sp., chlorophyceae potential biohydrogen producer, in wastewater by direct or indirect biophotolysis under the cultivation of the strain in two different steps. The first step, aerobic, to obtain biomass until half of the exponential phase, and later, in the second step, anaerobic, the biomass is transferred, by centrifugation (2000 rpm for 10 minutes) and cell wash (2x), for batch reactors and closed system, in wastewater. The best result will be tested on a larger scale in a continuous anaerobic reactor. During the cultivation will be evaluated the biomass and hydrogen yield of the species, byproducts generated, as well as molecular analysis of the autochthonous microbial community in consortium with Anabaena sp. and Chlamydomonas sp. The detection of hydrogen will be by gas chromatography and the parameters of hydrogen production will be evaluated by Gompertz modeling. At the end of the research, it is hoped to have alternatives of a renewable energy associated with an effective residual treatment from a microbial consortium with potential strain of cyanobacterial and chlorophyceae. (AU)