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Volume 7, Issue 4 (Suppl)
J Biotechnol Biomater, an open access journal
ISSN: 2155-952X
Bio America 2017
October 19-20, 2017
October 19-20, 2017 | New York, USA
18
th
Biotechnology Congress
Biotechnology as a tool for improving resource recovery from complex industrial wastewaters
B
iological anaerobic treatment systems are valuable tools for resource recovery fromorganic wastewaters thus representing an
important contribution for circular economy. Traditionally anaerobic systems have been associated with energy production
from organic wastes yet these systems are frequently hindered by several limitations stemming from the biological nature of
the underlying processes. Biotechnology tools are important aids for systems’ monitoring, operation and improvement. Several
operational strategies may be used to adapt microbial consortia for the degradation of complex substrates and improve the
performance of high-rate anaerobic systems used for treating concentrated industrial wastewaters. A methodology combining
conventional molecular techniques based on DNA extraction, amplification and cloning of genes that codify for 16S sub-
unit of ribosomal RNA, followed by sequencing of clones previously selected by analysis of polymorphisms of restriction
fragments (RFLP) may be applied for the monitoring of microbial populations striving in anaerobic systems. The development
of an adapted microbial population supported by the application of easy-to-use biotechnology monitoring tools results in
significant improvements of methane production from complex industrial wastewaters with high fat content. Biotechnology is
thus an indispensable instrument for the optimization of resource recovery from wastes and for the integration of wastewater
treatment systems with the concept of circular economy
Biography
Helena Nadais has a MSc (1988) and a BSc (1993) in Chemical Engineering from Instituto Superior Técnico of Lisbon University and has a PhD (2002) in sciences
applied to the environment from the University of Aveiro. Since 2003, she is the Assistant Professor in the Environment and Planning Department at the University of
Aveiro. Her research interests are centered on biological processes for water treatment and for the treatment and material and energetic valorization of wastewaters
and wastes. She has more than 50 international scientific publications
nadais@ua.ptHelena Nadais
University of Aveiro, Portugal
Helena Nadais, J Biotechnol Biomater 2017, 7:4 (Suppl)
DOI: 10.4172/2155-952X-C1-078