Recuperación de nutrientes mediante la mineralización de efluentes de biofloc del cultivo de tilapia

Abstract

The aquaculture industry is growing at an annual rate of 10.29% but faces sustainability challenges from polluting effluents. Biofloc technology (TBF) recycles nutrients, reduces water consumption, and improves efficiency. To overcome the limitations of monoculture, Flocponia systems were developed that integrate TBF and hydroponics, which require bioprocesses such as mineralization to transform effluents into nutrient solutions suitable for plant cultivation. To evaluate the recovery of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, an experiment was conducted comparing two types of mineralization: a) aerobic and b) mixed anaerobic-aerobic. The liquid and solid fractions of each mineralization were analyzed. In the liquid fraction, aerobic mineralization recovered more phosphorus (>36.0 mg/L; p ≤ 0.5), with no significant differences in nitrogen or potassium (p > 0.5). In the solid fraction, mixed mineralization facilitated greater recovery of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (p ≤ 0.5) compared to aerobic mineralization and the tanks. Mineralization allows valuable nutrients to be recovered, even surpassing commercial hydroponic solutions.