Within the concept of chasing for renewable sources for the production of biofuel and other industrial, high value-added chemicals, the use of anthropogenic waste as feedstock represents a solution to the problem of sustainable production and reduces the environmental and economic impact of waste disposal.Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) is an emerging physico-chemical procedure which involves the conversion, at high temperatures and pressures, of waste material into a bio-oil phase which may be further processed to be used as biofuel. Several by-products are obtained in this process: a gas fraction, mainly CO2, a solid fraction or biochar and an aqueous fraction, which is often too toxic to be released to the environment. The main objective of this work is to valorise the hydrothermal liquefaction wastewater (HTWW) generated as by-product of HTL carried out on different raw materials, such as Arthrospira platensis biomass, cellulose, lignin,oils and conventional plastics. Characterization studies were carried out on the different HTWWs,which were subjected to enzymatic treatments with oxidoreductases. The enzymes decreased the toxicity of HTWW, allowing the growth of microorganisms such as Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas putida and Yarrowia lypolitica in media containing up to 55% HTWW, therefore setting up the basis for the conversion of wastewater into valuable products such as polyhydroxyalkanoates(PHA), lipids or other compounds of industrial interest.

TED2021-129747B-C22/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/Unión EuropeaNextGenerationEU/PRTR

Peer reviewed

1 p.-4 fig.