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Updated: Aug 19, 2025

Cultivation of Green Microalgae in Bubble Column Photobioreactors and an Assay for Neutral Lipids
Published on: January 7, 2019
Microalgae production in human urine: Fundamentals, opportunities, and perspectives
Yewen Tao1, Zhipeng Liu2, Junjian Zheng3
1Key Laboratory for City Cluster Environmental Safety and Green Development of the Ministry of Education, School of Ecology, Environment and Resources, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, China.
Abstract:
The biological treatment of source-separated human urine to produce biofuel, nutraceutical, and high-value chemicals is getting increasing attention. Especially, photoautotrophic microalgae can use human urine as media to achieve environmentally and economically viable large-scale cultivation. This review presents a comprehensive overview of the up-to-date advancements in microalgae cultivation employing urine in photobioreactors (PBRs). The standard matrices describing algal growth and nutrient removal/recovery have been summarized to provide a platform for fair comparison among different studies. Specific consideration has been given to the critical operating factors to understand how the PBRs should be maintained to achieve high efficiencies. Finally, we discuss the perspectives that emphasize the impacts of co-existing bacteria, contamination by human metabolites, and genetic engineering on the practical microalgal biomass production in urine.
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