Potencial de microalgas na redução da salinidade de águas salobras visando à produção de biomassa como fonte de energia.

Abstract

Population growth and the increasing multiple uses of water have generated pressures on surface and groundwater resources. This is particularly true in semi-arid regions such as northeast Brazil, where the shortage of drinking water due to water scarcity occurs during the long periods of drought and is one of the sources of environmental and socioeconomic problems. The desalination process of these waters has been one of the key alternatives used to minimize these types of problems with the provision of water for communities that do not have access to conventional drinking water supplies. The present work aims to evaluate the efficiency of microalgae species isolated from the northeastern semi-arid region for the purpose of “bio-desalination”, with the concomitant production of algal biomass as a potential source of bioenergy. The microalgae were cultured in aqueous media with salt concentrations above the maximum permissible value permitted according to the classification established by CONAMA 357/2005. This study was divided into two phases: the first involved evaluating the growth of five microalgae species isolated from the northeast region, cultured in aqueous media containing different concentrations of sodium chloride; in the second phase the two microalgae showing the most tolerance to elevated saline concentrations were grown in a Microbial Desalination Cell (MDC), to evaluate their desalination capacity and concomitant biomass productivity in the context of bioenergy production. The two most salt tolerant microalgae of the species tested were a Chlorella sp. which grew well in media with 10.0 g.L-1 of NaCl and Scenesdesmus acuminatus with 6.0 g.L-1 of NaCl. Analyzing the performance of the MDC using electro-dialytic membranes (ED), in the presence of Scenesdesmus acuminatus or Chlorella sp. in the cathodic compartment, there were reductions of the chloride ion in the central, “saline bridge” compartment of 64.15% and 60.15% respectively. When using ED membranes, the reductions were 49.9% and 43, 75% respectively. Biomass production with Scenesdesmus acuminatus in the MDC cathodic compartment using RO membranes reached a concentration of 8.00x107 cells.ml-1 with a lipid concentration of 12.65% of the cellular dry weight. In the case of the Chlorella sp., total biomass reached 8.70x107 cells.mL-1, with a lipid content of 15.69% of the cellular dry weight. The MDC generated a voltage of approximately 0.65V for both algae. When using ED membranes in the CDM, Scenesdesmus acuminatus attained a biomass of 7.64x107 cells ml-1 and a lipid content of 12.17% of the cellular dry weight for a voltage between the two electrodes of 0.880V. The Chlorella sp. attained a biomass concentration of 7.35 x 107 cells.ml-1, with a lipid content of 12.20% of cellular dry weight and voltage 0.66 V. In the MDC experiment using brackish well water in the central “salt bridge” compartment and septic tank effluent in the anodic compartment and Chlorella, algal cell density reached a concentration of 7.25x107 cells.ml-1 with the RO membranes and 7.48x107 cells.ml-1 with ED membranes with reductions in conductivity of 54.60% and 21.98% respectively. Lipid concentrations for Chlorella were 12.3% of the cellular dry weight using RO and 9.8% with ED membranes. The voltages generated in the MDC were similar to values of 0.650 V and 0.690 V for RO and ED membranes respectively. The results suggest that salt tolerant microalgae can be used in the MCD bioreactor to provide at least partial desalination of brackish waters with the concomitant production of algal biomass with elevated lipid concentrations important for biofuel production at normal atmospheric pressure. Electrical energy, albeit at low voltages, was also produced. Further investigations should consider MDC geometry, the use of other types of electrodes and evaluate other potentially more efficient microalgae.