Laubscher Richard K, Cowan A Keith
Institute for Environmental Biotechnology (EBRU) Rhodes University Makhanda South Africa.
Eng Life Sci. 2020 Jun 16;20(7):305-315. doi: 10.1002/elsc.202000007. eCollection 2020 Jul.
Increasing pressure is being exerted on the peri-urban space that has elevated the demand for electricity, affects the global water resource, and impacts the potential to produce food, fiber, and commodity products. Algae-based technologies and in particular algae-based sewage treatment provides an opportunity for recovery of water for recycle and re-use, sequestration of greenhouse gases, and generation of biomass. Successful coupling of municipal sewage treatment to an algae-to-energy facility depends largely on location, solar irradiance, and temperature to achieve meaningful value recovery. In this paper, an algae-to-energy sewage treatment system for implementation in southern Africa is elaborated. Using results from the continued operation of an integrated algal pond system (IAPS), it is shown that this 500-person equivalent system generates 75 kL per day water for recycle and re-use and, ∼9 kg per day biomass that can be converted to methane with a net energy yield of ∼150 MJ per day, and ∼0.5 kL per day of high nitrogen-containing liquid effluent (>1 g/L) with potential for use as organic fertilizer. It is this opportunity that IAPS-based algae-to-energy sewage treatment provides for meaningful energy and co-product recovery within the peri-urban space and, which can alleviate pressure on an already strained water-energy-food nexus.
城市周边地区正面临着越来越大的压力，这增加了电力需求，影响了全球水资源，并对粮食、纤维和商品产品的生产潜力产生了影响。基于藻类的技术，特别是基于藻类的污水处理技术，为水的回收再利用、温室气体的封存以及生物质的产生提供了机会。城市污水处理与藻类能源设施的成功结合在很大程度上取决于地理位置、太阳辐照度和温度，以实现有意义的价值回收。本文阐述了一种在南部非洲实施的藻类能源污水处理系统。利用集成藻池系统（IAPS）持续运行的结果表明，这个相当于500人的系统每天产生75千升水用于回收再利用，每天产生约9千克生物质，可转化为甲烷，净能源产量约为每天150兆焦耳，以及每天约0.5千升高含氮液体废水（>1克/升），有潜力用作有机肥料。正是基于IAPS的藻类能源污水处理为城市周边地区提供了有意义的能源和副产品回收机会，并且可以缓解已经紧张的水-能源-食物关系所带来的压力。
