Alginate-Chitosan Bioremediation Beads for Nutrient Recovery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for removing excess nutrients from surface waters, such as those causing harmful algal blooms, are inefficient and costly, with immobilized algae systems losing cohesivity and nutrients leaching back into the water, making it difficult to recycle and reuse them effectively in agriculture.
Innovation Solution
The development of biologically active bioremediation units (BABUs) using a mixture of sodium alginate, chitosan, and soil-extracted lignans and proteins (SELP) infused with live algae, which form gel-like beads that absorb and retain nutrients, allowing for their capture and subsequent reuse as soil amendments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If algae are immobilized in filters and other mediums to reduce dispersal and enable easy harvesting, then harvesting becomes easier, but the disposal of filters and mediums does not facilitate the recycling of valuable nitrogen and phosphorous
Solution Approach 1:
The patent recovers nutrients from immobilized algae biomass after harvesting. The filtered algae are dried, ground into powder, and applied to soil as a fertilizer, thereby recovering nitrogen and phosphorous that would otherwise be lost with the filter medium disposal.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary processing step between harvesting and nutrient utilization. The immobilized algae serve as an intermediary carrier that can be easily harvested, then processed into a stable soil amendment form that releases nutrients slowly, facilitating both easy harvesting and nutrient recycling.
2Ease of operation
If filters and mediums are used to immobilize algae, then dispersal is reduced and harvesting is enabled, but the system becomes more complex and costly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs disposable filter mediums that are inexpensive and easily discarded after use. These single-use filters simplify the system by eliminating the need for complex recovery and reuse mechanisms for the filtering medium itself, while still enabling effective algae immobilization and harvesting.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the system into distinct functional components: the filter medium for immobilization, the algae biomass for nutrient accumulation, and the processed fertilizer for nutrient delivery. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently and simplifies overall system operation and disposal.
3Loss of substance
If free floating bloom cultures are harvested for nutrients, then nutrient recycling is achieved, but maintaining and harvesting the cultures is complicated and expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses immobilization media as an intermediary that transforms difficult-to-harvest free-floating algae into easily collectable solid or semi-solid biomass. This intermediary form enables simple filtration and harvesting operations while maintaining the nutrient content for subsequent recycling application to soil.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
BABUs effectively capture and retain excess nutrients from surface waters, maintaining cohesivity and viability, enabling their reuse as soil amendments, thereby reducing eutrophication and enhancing soil quality without leaching back into the water.
Implementation Method 1
The interaction between the third mixture and the Calcium Chloride caused the third mixture to spherize forming gel-like beads with encapsulated algae
Implementation Method 2
spherifying the third mixture by dropping the third mixture into calcium chloride, wherein the calcium chloride is at a temperature of 28 degrees-60 degrees F. The interaction between the third mixture and the Calcium Chloride caused the third mixture to spherize forming gel-like beads
Implementation Method 3
waiting a period of time for nutrient capture by the BABUs
Implementation Method 4
algae multiply quickly in eutrophic conditions, thus accumulating the nutrients, including but not limited to nitrogen and phosphorus, in their biomass
Implementation Method 5
placing the nutrient rich BABUs in soil, wherein the BABUs release the nutrients to the soil, and wherein the nutrients function as a soil amendment
Data Source
AI summary
A system for nutrient remediation in a water environment using biologically active bioremediation units (BABUs), comprising a biologically active first compound of sodium alginate with chitosan, mixing a quantity of glomalin and lignin with Chlorella vulgaris to form a second mixture, mixing the first mixture with the second mixture, and spherifying the third mixture by dropping the third mixture into calcium chloride, creating a physical medium to contain the viable culture of the remediating organism called BABUs, and where the BABUs are used for nutrient remediation in a surface water environment where the surface water environment contains an excess of nutrients, waiting for nutrient capture by the BABUs, removing the nutrient rich BABUs from the water, and placing the BABUs in soil, wherein the BABUs release the nutrients to the soil.