Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2019 May 30;16(11):1910.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph16111910.

Microalgae Brewery Wastewater Treatment: Potentials, Benefits and the Challenges

David Kwame Amenorfenyo  1   2 , Xianghu Huang  3   4 , Yulei Zhang  5   6 , Qitao Zeng  7   8 , Ning Zhang  9   10 , Jiajia Ren  11   12 , Qiang Huang  13
Affiliations
Review

Microalgae Brewery Wastewater Treatment: Potentials, Benefits and the Challenges

David Kwame Amenorfenyo et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Concerns about environmental safety have led to strict regulations on the discharge of final brewery effluents into water bodies. Brewery wastewater contains huge amounts of organic compounds that can cause environmental pollution. The microalgae wastewater treatment method is an emerging environmentally friendly biotechnological process. Microalgae grow well in nutrient-rich wastewater by absorbing organic nutrients and converting them into useful biomass. The harvested biomass can be used as animal feed, as an alternative energy source for biodiesel production and as biofertilizer. This review discusses conventional and current brewery wastewater treatment methods, and the application and potential of microalgae in brewery wastewater treatment. This study also discusses the benefits as well as challenges associated with microalgae brewery and other industrial wastewater treatments.

Keywords: brewery industry; environmental protection; microalgae; wastewater.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there are no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A bacterial-microalgae relationship in wastewater treatment.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Example of a raceway pond wastewater treatment [59].
Figure 3
Figure 3
Model of tubular photobioreactors [59].
Figure 4
Figure 4
CO2 savings comparison between activated microalgae and conventional activated sludge processes in aerobic wastewater treatment.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Valta K., Kosanovic T., Malamis D., Moustakas K., Loizidou M. Overview of water usage and wastewater management in the food and beverage industry. Desalin. Water Treat. 2015;53:3335–3347. doi: 10.1080/19443994.2014.934100. - DOI
    1. Braeken L., Van Der Bruggen B., Vandecasteele C. Regeneration of brewery waste water using nanofiltration. Water Res. 2004;38:3075–3082. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2004.03.028. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Doubla A., Laminsi S., Nzali S., Njoyim E., Kamsu-Kom J., Brisset J.-L. Organic pollutants abatement and biodecontamination of brewery effluents by a non-thermal quenched plasma at atmospheric pressure. Chemosphere. 2007;69:332–337. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2007.04.007. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Dvořák L., Lederer T., Jirků V., Masák J., Novák L. Removal of aniline, cyanides and diphenylguanidine from industrial wastewater using a full-scale moving bed biofilm reactor. Process. Biochem. 2014;49:102–109. doi: 10.1016/j.procbio.2013.10.011. - DOI
    1. Huige N. Brewery By-Products and Effluents. In: Priest F.G., Stewart G.G., editors. Handbook of Brewing. 2nd ed. Taylor & Francis Group; Boca Raton, FL, USA: 2006. pp. 656–707.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources