PhD Thesis Defence Presentations - Eleni Koutra

Presentation Title (Τίτλος Παρουσίασης): Bioremediation and valorization of anaerobically digested agricultural and municipal organic waste for the biotechnological production of added value products through use of microalgae.
Presentation Type (Τύπος Παρουσίασης): PhD Thesis Defence Presentations
Speakers Full Name (Ονοματεπώνυμο): Eleni Koutra
Speakers Affiliation (Προέλευση Ομιλητή): Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Patras
Seminar Room (Αίθουσα): Seminar Hall
Event Date: Thu, Nov 28 2019, Time: 17:00 - 20:00
Abstract (Περίληψη)

Microalgal cultivation in effluents from biogas production units, digestates, represents a promising alternative to conventional management of the produced liquid fraction, which through removal of inorganic and organic components contributes to safer disposal. Concurrently, valuable biomass is produced, that can be further valorized for production of various bio-products. However, several challenges including dark color and high turbidity of effluents, ammonia toxicity, insufficient concentration of fundamental nutrients and presence of inhibitors, have to be addressed in order to effectively optimize the process. To this end, the purpose of the present PhD thesis was the bioremediation and valorization of anaerobically digested agro-industrial and municipal organic waste through use of microalgae. In this respect, different types of digestates were used and critical factors and culture conditions were tested. Furthermore, the potential uses and applications of the produced biomass were investigated, including production of biofuels, feed supplements, antioxidants and substances with antimicrobial activity, which were tested against pathogenic bacteria.

Speakers Short CV (Σύντομο Βιογραφικό Ομιλητή)

Eleni Koutra

ekoutra@chemeng.upatras.gr

Education

2013: MSc in Ecology, Environmental Protection and Management. Department of Biology, University of Patras

2011: BSc in Biology, Department of Biology, University of Patras

Publications

Eleni Koutra, Savvas Giannis Mastropetros, Konstantina Tsigkou, Michael Kornaros (2020). Utilization of liquid digestates from agro-industrial and municipal organic wastes for production of the microalga Chlorella vulgaris. Under submission

Myrsini Sakarika, Konstantinos Stavropoulos, Alexandros Kopsahelis, Eleni Koutra, Constantina Zafiri, Michael Kornaros (2020). Two-stage anaerobic digestion harnesses more energy from the co-digestion of end-of-life dairy products with agro-industrial waste compared to the single-stage process. Biochemical Engineering Journal 153, 107404

Eleni Koutra, Alexandros Kopsahelis, Manolia Maltezou, George Grammatikopoulos, Michael Kornaros (2019). Effect of organic carbon and nutrient supplementation on the digestate-grown microalga, Parachlorella kessleri. Bioresource Technology 294, 122232

Ehsan Daneshvar, Mohammad Javad Zarrinmehr, Eleni Koutra, Michael Kornaros,  Omidvar Farhadian, Amit Bhatnagar (2019).  Sequential cultivation of microalgae in raw and recycled dairy wastewater: Microalgal growth, wastewater treatment and biochemical composition.  Bioresource Technology 273, 556-564

Eleni Koutra, Christina N. Economou, Panagiota Tsafrakidou and Michael Kornaros (2018). Bio-based Products from Microalgae Cultivated in Digestates. Trends in Biotechnology 36,819-833

Ehsan Daneshvar, Laura Antikainen, Eleni Koutra, Michael Kornaros, Amit Bhatnagar (2018).  Investigation on the feasibility of Chlorella vulgaris cultivation in a mixture of pulp and aquaculture effluents: Treatment of wastewater and lipid extraction. Bioresource Technology 255, 104-110

Eleni Koutra, George Grammatikopoulos and Michael Kornaros (2018). Selection of microalgae intended for valorization of digestate from agro-waste mixtures. Waste Management 73, 123-129

Eleni Koutra, George Grammatikopoulos, Michael Kornaros (2017). Microalgal post treatment of anaerobically digested agro-industrial wastes for nutrient removal and lipids production. Bioresource Technology 224 , 473–480