1. Progress towards the production of sustainable infrastructure materials from P. tricornutum and C. sorokiniana cultivated on food waste permeate
- Author
-
Kang, Ravinder Kaur
- Subjects
- Analytical chemistry, Environmental science, Microbiology
- Abstract
This thesis describes my research performed in the Franz Research Group while working towards my M.S. in Agricultural and Environmental Chemistry at the University of California, Davis. My research focused on remediating anaerobic digestate (food waste permeate, FWP) using the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum and marine microalgae Chlorella sorokiniana to produce sustainable biomass for composite materials. Chapter 1 contains an overview of existing literature that provides the foundation for my research. This chapter discusses the implications of current practices in the construction industry, recent advances in moving towards sustainable practices within this industry, the status of microalgae use in wastewater remediation, and the potential for microalgae biomass in construction materials. Chapter 2 presents my research and efforts to overcome challenges with cultivating P. tricornutum in high ammonia-containing anaerobic digestate (food waste permeate, FWP) to produce biomass for sustainable concrete. In addition to dilution of the FWP, two methods to increase microalgal growth rate using FWP with high ammonia are discussed: 1) co-treatment of the FWP with nitrifying bacteria, and 2) silicon supplementation. Results of microplate screening and batch scale experiments for microalgae cultivation on variations dilutions of FWP and with different supplementation conditions are discussed. Chapter 3 presents results to produce an artificial lumber composite using biomass from C. sorokiniana cultivated on FWP.
- Published
- 2023