Efficient Nitrogen Recovery from Agro-Energy Effluents for Cyanobacteria Cultivation (Spirulina)

Abstract

The present study aimed to obtain an efficient liquid nitrogen fertilizer from the by-product of anaerobic digestion for its subsequent use in the production of cyanobacteria (Spirulina). A simple recovery technology was tested based on the stripping and acid absorption, modifying temperature (50 and 70 °C) and pH (10 and 12), of the ammonia nitrogen contained in the digestate produced in a large-scale plant treating livestock manure and grass silage. The results demonstrated how, at a relatively low temperature (50 °C), using sulfuric and citric acid solution, it is possible to recover nitrogen from a digestate in the form of ammonium sulfate and ammonium citrate with yields of 70% and 72.1% respectively. By carrying out Spirulina growth tests, promising results were obtained under semicontinuous production, with a maximum dry biomass daily productivity of 0.344 g L−1 day−1 with ammonium sulfate and 0.246 gDW L−1 day−1 with ammonium citrate. The results showed that nitrogen can be efficiently recovered on site by using the organic acid, digestate and waste heat from anaerobic digestion for Spirulina biomass production.