Source: PURDUE UNIVERSITY submitted to NRP
A NEAR-ZERO-EMISSION AQUACULTURE PRODUCTION SYSTEM THROUGH PHYCOREMEDIATION, ANAEROBIC DIGESTION, AND EMISSION MITIGATION
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
ACTIVE
Funding Source
AFRI COMPETITIVE GRANT
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1030354
Grant No.
2023-68016-39718
Cumulative Award Amt.
$1,000,000.00
Proposal No.
2022-10733
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Aug 1, 2023
Project End Date
Jul 31, 2026
Grant Year
2023
Program Code
[A1261]- Inter-Disciplinary Engagement in Animal Systems
Recipient Organization
PURDUE UNIVERSITY
(N/A)
WEST LAFAYETTE,IN 47907
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Demand for seafood has steadily increased due to increasing population and per capita consumption. Recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) intensively produce aquatic products; however, their operations require high energy input and create considerable nutrient-rich wastewater, leading to significant environmental impacts. Using algae to treat wastewater (also known as phycoremediation) can assimilate nutrients and carbon to produce algal biomass for conversion into bioenergy, leading to the overarching goal of this project: Integrating RAS with phycoremediation and anaerobic digestion (AD) for nutrient reuse, energy production and carbon dioxide sequestration to develop an intensive aquaculture production system with near-zero emissions. Specific project objectives include: (1) Screening of algae for effective nutrient removal from RAS wastewater; (2) Developing AD strategies for algal biomass, and wet scrubber for air pollution mitigation; (3) Kinetic modeling and life cycle assessment of integrated near-zero-emission aquaculture production system; (4) Disseminating project results and products to stakeholders. The RAS-algae-AD integration is expected to close the nutrient loop to a higher degree that can be adopted by smallholder aquaculture farmers as a promising approach to reducing energy demand and waste output. This novel aquaculture production system features more efficient nutrient use, reduced operating costs, and improved environmental quality, and thus will play a major role in sustainably enhancing food security.
Animal Health Component
50%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
50%
Applied
50%
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
3073714106050%
1115330202050%
Knowledge Area
111 - Conservation and Efficient Use of Water; 307 - Animal Management Systems;

Subject Of Investigation
5330 - Farm structures and related facilities; 3714 - Tilapia;

Field Of Science
2020 - Engineering; 1060 - Biology (whole systems);
Goals / Objectives
The overall goal of the proposed project is to enable a sustainable intensive aquaculture production system that combines the benefits of nutrient reuse, energy production and CO2 sequestration by integrating algae cultivation and anaerobic digestion (AD) with recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) to achieve near-zero emission to the hydrosphere and atmosphere. To test our central hypothesis, and thereby attain the overall objective through interconnected research and Extension activities, we have built a multidisciplinary team and will partner with the Aquaponics Association to pursue four objectives: Obj. 1, 2 and 3 for research, and Obj. 4 for Extension.Objective 1. Screening of algae and cultivation conditions for effective removal of dissolved nutrients from fish RAS wastewater.Objective 2. Developing co-digestion strategies to enhance AD of algae, and wet scrubber for pollution mitigation.Objective 3.Kinetic modeling of integrated phycoremediation-anaerobic co-digestion (AcoD) wastewater treatment and life cycle assessment (LCA) on the environmental performance of near-zero-emission aquaculture production system.Objective 4. Disseminate project results and products to various stakeholders via Purdue and multi-state Extension networks.
Project Methods
RAS wastewater samples will be collected from tilapia growing units to start a continuous-flow algae-bacterial bioreactor and optimize its operating parameters, including hydraulic and solid retention times, organic loading rates, and light intensity. The bioreactor will be run as a suspended growth system and algae will be harvested once they reach optimal growth conditions for compositional analysis. Several different algal cultures will be tested and based on growth rate the best performing algal strain will be selected for AD.Algae will be harvested and concentrated for AD at mesophilic temperature. The digester feedstock will include RAS sludge, algae, and livestock manure for optimal biogas production. The digestate will be used as nutrients for algal cultivation. The produced biogas will supply fuel to the biogas boiler to produce hot water via direct combustion. The hot water will be cycled first to heat the lower-temperature-required anaerobic digester and fish tanks. Hot exhaust air from the biogas boiler will be supplied to algae bioreactor to provide carbon source and heat for algal growth. A wet scrubber will be developed using cycling algae water from the algae bioreactor. Aerial pollutants in the enclosed production system will be removed from the air and captured during the scrubbing process to provide nutrients and micronutrients for algal growth.The kinetics in the proposed integrated system will be modeled and its environmental performance will be evaluated using LCA. The kinetic model combined with LCA can predict the system performance (nutrient recovery and energy generation) and determine the operating conditions of subsystems to minimize the life cycle emissions. The proposed model is a compilation of multiple sub-models for the subsystems which are combined through the fluxes of nutrients and energy. Mass balance equations will be established to integrate all the sub-models, and all the constants and coefficients in the integrated model will be calibrated and validated using experimental data. A system energy balance will also be calculated to assess the potential energy saving by the proposed integration. A cradle-to-gate LCA will be conducted. Foreground data of the life cycle inventory on the operation of subsystems and the associated material and energy use will be mainly collected from experiments and complemented by the results of kinetic modeling where needed. Background data will be taken from databases. Life cycle impact assessment will be performed using the TRACI 2.1 method.In the early stage of the project, we will locate interested farmers in the Midwest willing to test the effectiveness of our new wastewater treatment system at their farms. Further, we will engage anaerobic digester owners to evaluate the potential of AcoD of aquaculture waste and algal biomass with their existing feedstocks. Upon completion of the experiments, we will publish Extension Factsheets and articles to disseminate our project findings to stakeholders to explain the technical feasibility and environmental benefits of the integrated waste management system over conventional treatments. The research results will also be shared with scientific communities and the public in Indiana via Purdue Extension network. All the Extension materials developed will be made available in Purdue Extension Education Store Website, and websites of AD and agricultural waste management. We will also pilot-test our Extension materials through aquaculture and AD workshops and field days at Purdue. We will demonstrate our experimental systems in the workshops, which will be helpful for participants to get hands-on training with its operation and evaluate its performance. Additionally, we will develop an innovative and interactive tool for on-line use. This web tool will enable stakeholders to learn the novel RAS-algae-AcoD production system and design a potential new system.

Progress 08/01/23 to 07/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:• Aquaculture farmers • Microalgae producers • Industrial and academic researchers • Scientific community • College students Changes/Problems:When we were operatingour aquaculture systems, sometimes we did not get enough nutrient form the fish wastewater. To solve the problem, we needed to increasethe number of fish in each fish tank. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Our project has hired 1 postdoctoral research associatesand 4graduate students. Three of these team members have shared their research through presentations at conferences/meetings and/or paper publications in scientific journals. In addition, our project has provided growth opportunities for 1undergraduate studentwho has acquired the knowledge and skills of daily operations and monitoring of our aquaculture and microalgae systems and learned about a career in aquaculture and microalgae. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? We collborated with a shrimpfarm in Fowler, IN toevaluatethe environmental feasibility of phycorremediationfor their wastewater. We furthercollbaorated with a tilapia farmin Romney, IN and appliedthe developedphycoremidationfor their wastewater. We have 4journal publications. We have presented our project findings at 9local/reginal/national/international meetings, includingInternational Conference on Algal Biomass, Biofuels and Bioproducts,Aquaponics Virtual Conference, etc. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Objective 1: There will be batch and continuous treatments of the wastewater to achieve the best nutrient removal performance. We also plan to fabricate efficient electrochemical filters for contaminant removal and nutrient recovery. Wewill developwastewater pretreatment methods,including filtration andUV,and study the effect ofN:P ratio onmicroalgal biomass yield and composition. Algae harvesting technique will be improved by testing several different methods. Objective 2: More experiments will be conducted next year to improve the anaerobic co-digestion of sludge from aquaculture with different feedstocks. New lab-scale digesters of larger volume at 6 L with continuous measurement of pH and temperature will be developed. The digesters will have automatic control of mixing and allow semi-continuous feeding to simulate field digester operation. Thermal pre-treatment of feedstock for co-digestion of aquaculture sludge will be studied to improve biogas production. A wet scrubber will be designed to study the mitigation of air pollution from aquaculture production system. Objective 3: The modeling of conversion steps in the anaerobic co-digestion (AcoD) will be conducted to simulate various scenarios involving algae and RAS sludge. The existing model's capability will be expanded to simulate various co-digestion scenarios, with emphasis on predicting biogas productivity under different substrate mixing ratios. These refinements will be integrated into the life cycle assessment framework to more accurately evaluate the environmental performance of the proposed system compared to conventional production routes. Objective 4: Reach out to aquaculture farms affiliated with the Aquaponics Association to help the project team on critical evaluation of the design and operation of the proposed integrated wastewater treatment system during the period of Obj. 1. Engage anaerobic digester owners to evaluate the potential of anaerobic co-digestion of aquaculture waste with their existing feedstocks during the period of Obj. 2. Develop a webpage to disseminate information about the research progress and results in the Purdue University Anaerobic Digestion Extension website. Prepare two factsheets to disseminate research results from Obj. 1 and Obj. 2 to stakeholders.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Objective 1: For the water quality of our aquaculture systems, we have been conducting experiments into the best filtration method for contaminant removal. We have decided to move forward to develop new electrochemical filters for contaminant removal within our system as the best option. Our team has also been conducting experiments with 6 algae strains. Initially there were lab experiments to determine the best strains which meet our needs. The algae strains were then grown in aquaculture wastewater and their performance of nutrient removal were published and presented. We have built an microalgae growing system comprising 24 7-gallon photobioreactors. We cultivated Chlorella vulgaris and Tetraselmis sp. using tilapia wastewater and respectively produced biomass of 2.0 and 1.6 g dry wt/gal after 14-day cultivation.C. vulgaris removed 100% of phosphate, 73% of ammonium and 53% of nitrate. Objective 2: Our team has developed a laboratory setup for anaerobicdigestion experiments. Two rounds of study were conducted. The first round was to study biogas and methane production at different mixing ratios of corn stover and aquaculture sludge. The second round was to study pretreatment of corn stover with microwave. We have also conducted and presented an experiment of aquacultural sludge co-digestion with dairy manure or corn husk with different mixing ratios. Objective 3: A computational framework incorporating machine learning algorithms and deterministic methods was developed to analyze the integrated phycoremediation-RAS system. The Monod equation for microalgae growth was successfully adapted. A cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment was conducted, with the conventional RAS serving as a control for comparison with the new integrated aquaculture production system. Through Monte Carlo simulations, system uncertainties were systematically evaluated,demonstrating up to 10% reduction in global warming potential, 95% decrease in eutrophication potential, and 64% reduction in freshwater consumption compared to conventional systems.

Publications

  • Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Mirzapour-Kouhdasht, A., Garcia-Vaquero, M., Huang, J.-Y. 2024. Algae-derived compounds: Bioactivity, allergenicity and technologies enhancing their values. Bioresource Technology, 406, 130963.
  • Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Mirzapour-Kouhdasht, A., Garcia-Vaquero, M., Huang, J.-Y. 2024. Algae-derived compounds: Bioactivity, allergenicity and technologies enhancing their values. Bioresource Technology, 406, 130963. Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Arbour, A.J., Bhatt, P., Simsek, H., Brown, P.B., Huang, J.-Y. 2024. Life cycle assessment on environmental feasibility of microalgae-based wastewater treatment for shrimp recirculating aquaculture systems. Bioresource Technology, 399, 130578.
  • Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Mirzapour-Kouhdasht, A., Garcia-Vaquero, M., Huang, J.-Y. 2024. Algae-derived compounds: Bioactivity, allergenicity and technologies enhancing their values. Bioresource Technology, 406, 130963. Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Arbour, A.J., Bhatt, P., Simsek, H., Brown, P.B., Huang, J.-Y. 2024. Life cycle assessment on environmental feasibility of microalgae-based wastewater treatment for shrimp recirculating aquaculture systems. Bioresource Technology, 399, 130578. Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Arbour, A.J., Chu, Y.-T., Brown, P.B., Huang, J.-Y. 2024. Life cycle assessment on marine aquaponic production of shrimp, red orache, minutina and okahajiki. Journal of Environmental Management, 353, 120208.
  • Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Mirzapour-Kouhdasht, A., Garcia-Vaquero, M., Huang, J.-Y. 2024. Algae-derived compounds: Bioactivity, allergenicity and technologies enhancing their values. Bioresource Technology, 406, 130963. Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Arbour, A.J., Bhatt, P., Simsek, H., Brown, P.B., Huang, J.-Y. 2024. Life cycle assessment on environmental feasibility of microalgae-based wastewater treatment for shrimp recirculating aquaculture systems. Bioresource Technology, 399, 130578. Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Arbour, A.J., Chu, Y.-T., Brown, P.B., Huang, J.-Y. 2024. Life cycle assessment on marine aquaponic production of shrimp, red orache, minutina and okahajiki. Journal of Environmental Management, 353, 120208. Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Bhatt, P., Brown, P.B., Huang, J.-Y., Hussain, A.S., Liu, H.T., Simsek, H. 2024. Algae and indigenous bacteria consortium in treatment of shrimp wastewater: A study for resource recovery in sustainable aquaculture system. Environmental Research, 250, 118447.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Arbour, A.J., Simsek, H., Brown, P.B., Huang, J.-Y. Life cycle assessment on phycoremediation of shrimp farm wastewater. International Conference on Algal Biomass, Biofuels and Bioproducts. Clearwater, Florida, USA. June 2024.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Nandi, R., Rana, M., Ni, J. Biogas production from aquacultural sludge co-digested with corn husk: a step towards sustainability. College of Agriculture & Engineering Joint Poster Session. West Lafayette, Indiana. March 2024.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Rana, M., Nandi, R., Ni, J. Anaerobic co-digestion of aquaculture sludge and dairy manure for improved biogas production. 2024. College of Agriculture & Engineering Joint Poster Session. West Lafayette, Indiana. March 2024.
  • Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Arbour, A.J. 2023. Life Cycle Assessment for Improving Sustainability of Aquaculture and Aquaponics. Master Thesis, Department of Food Science. Purdue University, USA.
  • Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Arbour, A.J. 2023. Life Cycle Assessment for Improving Sustainability of Aquaculture and Aquaponics. Master Thesis, Department of Food Science. Purdue University, USA. Status: Under Review Year Published: 2024 Citation: Yakamercan, E., Guleria, S., Kayranli, B., Karimi, M., Bhasin, A., Aygun, A., & Simsek, H. 2024. Advanced microalgae harvesting techniques: Electrochemical methods and chitosan coagulation. Chemosphere.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Yakamercan, E., Brown, P.B., Huang, J.-Y., Guleria, S., Aygun, A., Simsek, H. Recirculating aquaculture wastewater treatment using electrooxidation and parameter optimization through response surface methodology. Aquaponics Virtual Conference, April 15-17, 2024.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Aranda-Vega, Y., Huang, J.-Y., Brown, P.B., Hussain, A.S., Simsek, H. Assessing biodegradability of fish wastewater effluent: A study on the efficacy of cyanobacteria, microalgae, and bacteria. Presented at Aquaponics Virtual Conference, April 15-17, 2024.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Aranda-Vega, Y., Huang, J.Y., Brown, P., Simsek, H. Aquaculture wastewater remediation: Role of cyanobacteria and microalgae. Presented at Purdue University Office of Interdisciplinary Graduate Programs Networking Event. West Lafayette, IN. May 1, 2024.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Aranda-Vega, Y., Hussain, A.S., Simsek, H. Biological treatment of aquaculture wastewater using algae, cyanobacteria, and indigenous bacteria. Presented at Purdue University College of Agriculture & College of Engineering Joint Poster Session & Networking Gathering. West Lafayette, IN. March 29, 2024.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Shaika, N.A., Hussain, A.S., Simsek, H. Exploring the role of microalgae and indigenous bacteria in sustainable aquaculture effluent treatment. Presented at Purdue University College of Agriculture & College of Engineering Joint Poster Session & Networking Gathering. West Lafayette, IN. March 29, 2024.