Influence of Hydrothermal Carbonization By-Products from Olive Mill Waste on Chlorella vulgaris and Arthrospira platensis Cultures Devoted to Biogas Upgrading
摘要
This study evaluated the influence of by-products from hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) of olive mill waste on Chlorella vulgaris and Arthrospira platensis metabolism during biogas upgrading. Three different HTC by-products were assessed: the raw suspension (total fraction, RS), solid biochar (SB), and the resulting supernatant (SU) after separation of solid biochar from the total fraction. The SU had a minor impact on the metabolism of both cultures while SB positively influenced only the metabolism of A. platensis, significantly enhancing the carbohydrate content by 56%. Moreover, RS promoted a superior performance, increasing CO2 biofixation, biomass yield, productivity, and specific growth rate of A. platensis by 21, 22, 33, and 46%, respectively. Similarly, RS increased by 55% the carbohydrate content in C. vulgaris. A further optimization of RS dosage (1-, 2- and 3-mL L-1) revealed that 1 mL L-1 supported the highest CO2 consumption, O2 production and biomass productivity in both photosynthetic microorganisms. Interestingly, the highest carbohydrate content was achieved when 3 mL L-1 were supplemented to C. vulgaris. Therefore, the addition of RS positively influenced microalgal and cyanobacterial metabolism during biogas upgrading and modified the macromolecular composition of biomass from both cultures.