Engineering Commons^™

A Passive Membrane Photobioreactor For The Isolated Cultivation Of Algal Resource Utilizing Selectivity (Icarus), With Wastewater As A Feedstock, Ivy Lea Cormier Drexler

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Renewed momentum in the microalgae industry due to commercial interest in biofuels and bioproducts is driving the need to increase the economic competitiveness of large-scale microalgal production. Current knowledge of membrane systems common in other disciplines, such as environmental engineering, marine science, and biomedicine, are relevant to algae production. With pore sizes ranging from microns to angstroms, membranes provide tailored functions for solid/liquid separation (cell retention, biomass concentration and dewatering), gas/liquid separation (gas delivery and removal), and solute/liquid separation (bioproduct recovery, feedstock preparation and effluent recycling) that are problematic or not possible with other technologies. Though membranes have great potential …

Water Quality Effects Of Cellulosic Biofuel Crops Grown On Marginal Land, Ruoyu Wang

Ruoyu Wang

The Effects Of Ocean Acidification And Eutrophication On The Growth, Lipid Composition And Toxicity Of The Marine Raphidophyte Heterosigma Akashiwo., Julia Rose Matheson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Anthropogenic forcing, such as ocean acidification caused by rising carbon dioxide emissions, and eutrophication due to increased nutrient loadings in run-off, are causing major changes to the biogeochemistry of the oceans. As a consequence, coastal phytoplankton are susceptible to altered biogeochemical environments. This study examined the effect of a lower pH and increased levels of nutrients on the common coastal harmful alga, Heterosigma akashiwo. Growth rates, maximal cell yields, neutral lipid accumulation and toxicity of cells grown under various pH and nutrients regimes were measured. H. akashiwo growth was near maximal when grown at lower pH levels. There was …

The Fate Of Nitrogen And Phosphorus From A Simulated Highway Cross-Section, Zuzanna Wasowska

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nutrient pollution as a result of excessive fertilizer application is of major concern for Florida's water resources. Excess fertilizer can be lost either via surface runoff or by leaching through the soil mass eventually reaching water bodies and leading to eutrophication. The focus of this study is to analyze the effect of low rainfall intensities and overland flow from an adjacent roadway surface on the loss of nutrients from two different fertilizers. This study focuses on the fate of the nitrogen and phosphorus present in fertilizers utilized by the Florida Department of Transportation for the stabilization of highway embankments. This …