Microalgae and Other Phototrophic Bacteria Culture, Processing, Recovery and New Products

Microalgae and Other Phototrophic Bacteria: Culture, Processing, Recovery and New Products By Luis G. Torres Bustillos
2015 | 373 Pages | ISBN: 1634820789 | PDF | 7 MB
Microalgae are primary producers of oxygen and exhibit an enormous potential for biotechnological applications. Microalgae cultivation is also an interesting option for wastewater treatment. These microorganisms are efficient in recovering high amounts of nitrogen, inorganic phosphorus, and heavy metals from effluents. Furthermore, microalgae are responsible for the reduction of CO2 from gaseous effluent and from the atmosphere, reducing the green house gases effect. On the other hand, microalgae biomass can be used for the production of pigments, lipids, foods, and renewable energy. The culture of microalgae is not a new issue, since for many decades they have been employed with aquaculture purposes. In fact, some species of Nostoc, Arthrospira (Spirulina) and Aphanizomenon species have been used as food for thousands of years for food applications. The treatment of wastewaters employing microalgae has been reported for decades (specifically for the elimination of phosphorus and nitrogen compounds). Nowadays, there is an increasing interest in the production of biofuels. Bioethanol, biohydrogen, bio-methane, biodiesel and other novel products can be obtained using microalgae as biomass or metabolic products (sugars, lipids, etc). In the near future, microalgae can be oriented (via molecular engineering) to the production of the hole biofuels, such as biodiesel or bio-turbosins. Microalgae and Other Phototrophic Bacteria is a book which will provide information for academics students, policy makers and the general public regarding the state of the art in the field, as well as detailed descriptions of the methodologies employed for culture, processing, recovery and new products. Aspects covered by this book are the microalgae and other phototrophic bacteria. Aspects such as the improvement of photobioreactors, the biofuel potential of Botryococcus braunii, measuring the environmental impact of microalgae production and biofuel production through LCA, the dewatering and dehydration of microalgae, the recovery of microalgae by coagulation-flocculation-sedimentation and the characterization of the produced pastes, the production of bioplastics employing residues and phototropic bacteria, the review on instrumentation and automatic control for microalgae culture and lastly, microalgae in livestock nutrition will be covered by this proposed book. Every chapter in this book has been written by an expert in the field, covering both the state of the art and the specific contributions of each group of authors in the worldwide literature. (Imprint: Nova)