Valorisation of saline wastewaters: a challenge for the obtainment of bioproducts

Abstract

The present thesis proposes the obtainment of high value-added products from industrial waste with high content of salt. The value-added products considered in this thesis are: (1) Biogas, well-known of being a renewable energy produced by means of anaerobic digestion. (2) Fatty acids, also obtained by anaerobic digestion, but without allowing the process to continue to the methanogenesis stage. From these compound, chemicals, biofuels, or even bioplastics can be obtained. (3) Polyhydroxyalkanoates, obtained from the aerobic treatment of the acidified effluent from the anaerobic fermenter. These biopolymers are known to have comparable properties to conventional thermoplastics and are good candidates to substitute them in some fields. The proposed system for the treatment of industrial saline effluents includes the start-up of the different reactors, the follow-up of the operation and the characterisation of the influents, effluents and value added products.