Sustainable production process of biological mineral feed additives

Abstract

Problem statement: This study discussed the problem of accumulation of Zn and Cu in the topsoil as a result of application of mineral feed additives that possess low bioavailability in animal diet. The review considered the production process of mineral feed additives in which a product supplies microelements in highly bioavailable form. Enrichment of natural biomass of edible microalgae with microelement metal ions, which supply microelements of feeding significance in livestock diet, is considered in term of sustainable production. Approach: Production of microalgaederived products as mineral feed additives requires elaboration of the processes for cultivation of alga, enrichment process and afterwards recovery of the enriched biomass from the solution to obtain liquid free of cells that could be reused in the next process. In this study membrane bioreactor was considered as a method for separation, both in photobioreactor (growth of microorganism) as well as in the enrichment process. Results: Effort involved in thermal and chemical separation techniques is higher than that in mechanical techniques. Membrane bioreactors which are usually applied to treat wastewater, both industrial and domestic. This study discussed method to separate a valuable biomass of enriched microalgae and reuse the solution with residual metal ions that can be used once again in the subsequent biosorption process. Conclusion/Recommendation: Taking into consideration care about the environment it is better to apply membrane modules in the production process in terms of sustainable production. The proposed solution assumed the application of membrane modules as a separation step after enrichment process and biomass recovery. © 2009 Science Publications.