Bioreactor technology in marine microbiology: From design to future application

Abstract

Marine micro-organisms have been playing highly diverse roles over evolutionary time: they have defined the chemistry of the oceans and atmosphere. During the last decades, bioreactors with novel designs have become an important tool to study marine microbiology and ecology in terms of: marine microorganism cultivation and deep-sea bioprocess characterization; unique bio-chemical product formation and intensification; marine waste treatment and clean energy generation. In this review we briefly summarize the current status of bioreactor technology applied in marine microbiology and the critical parameters to take into account during reactor design. Furthermore, when we look at the growing population, as well as, pollution in the coastal areas of the world, it is urgent to find sustainable practices that beneficially stimulate both the economy and the natural environment. Here we outlook a few possibilities where innovative bioreactor technology can be applied to enhance energy generation and food production without harming the local marine ecosystem.

Start-up of halophilic nitrogen removal via nitrite from hypersaline wastewater by estuarine sediments in sequencing batch reactor

“…In the following days, 100 % ammonia and TN removal efficiency was sustained regardless of fluctuation of specific ammonia and nitrite loadings, which indicated the successful start-up of the halophilic system. Since the microorganisms living in marine sediments usually have a very small niche for survival (Zhang et al 2011), it is difficult to enrich marine bacteria when changing the original natural living conditions into the bioreactor operating conditions. The successful start-up of this system explores new possibilities to develop the mixed halophiles for hypersaline wastewater treatment in the practical engineering field.…”

Fungal pelleted reactors in wastewater treatment: Applications and perspectives

“…The major driving forces among industries to adopt biological systems for wastewater treatment is their low cost, energy saving efficiency and the production of valuable endproducts that can be used for energy production or used as fertilizers [1]. Bioreactors are commonly employed biotechnologies for wastewater treatment.…”

Simultaneous biological removal of nitrogen–sulfur–carbon: Recent advances and challenges

“…Denitrifiers reduce oxidized forms of nitrogen compounds in aerobic or anaerobic environment Olguin, 2012;Zhang et al, 2011). Research work has so far pointed out that the DSR process inherently integrates syntrophic biochemical interactions between autotrophic and heterotrophic denitrifiers (Chen et al, 2009b).…”