The partners of the MICROALBAC project, an initiative led by FACSA that aims to reduce nutrient concentration in wastewater, have visited the facilities of the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) of Castellón to learn about the progress of the pilot plant located in said facilities and exchange impressions on the results of its validation.
The system consists of a reactor (raceway) that enables the removal of contaminants during the wastewater treatment process through the integration of microalgae cultivation. This process also reduces the plant's energy costs and adds value to the biomass resulting from the treatment process by using it as fertilizer or for biogas production.
The project aims to integrate the cultivation of microalgae-bacteria into small-scale conventional plants to obtain a hybrid purification system that maximizes the synergies between both species and promotes water decontamination and the generation of energy in the form of biogas.
The project consortium is made up of FACSA, the company responsible for validating this system in a pilot plant at the Castellón WWTP; CEBAS-CSIC, responsible for studying the biofertilizing capacity of the sludge resulting from the process; and the IMDEA Energy Foundation, which has studied the microalgae/bacteria systems in the laboratory.
This project, with file number RTC-2015-3245-5, has been co-financed by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) in the Challenges-Collaboration call of the State Program for Research, Development of Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation 2013-2016.
