1st Aim
Keep You Up-to-date
The first task tackles the management of the project, dissemination of results and knowledge and staff exchange.
About the Project
Every drop counts...
…in soilless crop production because the intensive use of fresh water and the release of nutrient-rich effluents (drain water) negatively impacts the environment. AlgaCycle will re-use these effluents to produce microalgae. The resulting microalgal biomass will be fractionated into water extracts and residual debris. These fractions will be used as biostimulants in agriculture or feeds in aquaculture.
Management & Dissemination
Lab-scale assays for microalgal growth on drain water
2nd Aim
Test the drain water
The second task aims to (i) chemical characterise the drain water, (ii) pre-define operation parameters for cultivating winter and summer microalgal strains outdoors and (iii) investigate possible effects on algal growth and biochemical composition.
Two target microalgae strains
Winter strain: Arctic strain Koliella antarctica
– Rich in lipids, proteins and unsaturated fatty acids
– Promising as feed ingredient for aquaculture
Summer strain: Scenedesmus sp.
– Rich in carbohydrates and phytohormones
- Promising as plant biostimulants
Pilot scale production of microalgal biomass
3rd Aim
Scale-up, Harvest & extract
The third task aims to develop an automatization system that is used for low-maintenance microalgal production in drain water and low-cost harvesting and cell disruption methods to recover valuable biomass fractions for Agri- and Aquaculture.
Development of novel products
4th Aim
Products: Aquafeeds, Plant biostimulants, Clean water
The fourth task develops the novel products biostimulants and aquafeeds. Fresh water is a welcomed by-product.
Business & Life cycle model
5th Aim
Life Cycle Assessment & commercial exploitation
The fifths task evaluates the environmental impact and potential business opportunities of the ALGACYCLE process.
