Influence of the cell wall of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii on anaerobic digestion yield and on its anaerobic co-digestion with a carbon-rich substrate

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of the cell wall of the microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (C. reinhardtii) on its anaerobic digestion (AD) by comparing the AD of C. reinhardtii 6145 and of its mutant without cell wall C. reinhardtii cw15, assessing simultaneously the influence of the cell wall on anaerobic co-digestion of these strains with a carbon-rich substrate, olive mill solid waste (OMSW). The OMSW is the main by-product from two-phase olive oil manufacturing process. Biochemical methane potential (BMP) tests of the sole substrates and different mixtures (OMSW-microalgae) (85%-15%, 75%-25%, 50%-50%) were carried out. The results showed that the cell wall was not hindrance and became an advantage by releasing intracellular biomass to be degraded slowly. The influence of the substrate composition in the mixtures of OMSW and Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (6145 and cw15) was assessed through the calculation of performance and kinetic parameters by using the Transference Function model. The mixture 50% OMSW-50% C. reinhardtii 6145 allowed the highest methane yield (542 ± 4 mL CH/g VS) and also resulted in one of the highest maximum methane production rates, Rmax (129 ± 3 mL CH/(g VS·d).