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Analysis of institutional authors

Barat, RCorresponding AuthorFerrer, JAuthor

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Article

Outdoor flat-panel membrane photobioreactor to treat the effluent of an anaerobic membrane bioreactor. Influence of operating, design, and environmental conditions

Publicated to:Water Science And Technology. 78 (1): 195-206 - 2018-07-01 78(1), DOI: 10.2166/wst.2018.259

Authors: Gonzalez-Camejo, J; Barat, R; Ruano, M, V; Seco, A; Ferrer, J

Affiliations

Univ Politecn Valencia, Inst Univ Invest Engn Aigua & Medi Ambient IIAMA, CALAGUA Unidad Mixta UV UPV, Cami Vera s-n - Author
Univ Valencia, Dept Engn Quim, CALAGUA Unidad Mixta UV UPV, Avinguda Univ S-N - Author

Abstract

As microalgae have the ability to simultaneously remove nutrients from wastewater streams while producing valuable biomass, microalgae-based wastewater treatment is a win-win strategy. Although recent advances have been made in this field in lab conditions, the transition to outdoor conditions on an industrial scale must be further investigated. In this work an outdoor pilot-scale membrane photobioreactor plant was operated for tertiary sewage treatment. The effects of different parameters on microalgae performance were studied including: temperature, light irradiance (solar and artificial irradiance), hydraulic retention time (HRT), biomass retention time (BRT), air sparging system and influent nutrient concentration. In addition the competition between microalgae and ammonium oxidising bacteria for ammonium was also evaluated. Maximum nitrogen and phosphorus removal rates of 12.5 +/- 4.2 mgN.L-1.d(-1) and 1.5 +/- 0.4 mgP.L-1.d(-1), respectively, were achieved at a BRT of 4.5 days and HRT of 2.5 days, while a maximum biomass productivity of 78 +/- 13 mgVSS.L-1.d(-1 )(VSS: volatile suspended solids) was reached. While the results obtained so far are promising, they need to be improved to make the transition to industrial scale operations feasible.

Keywords

Air spargingAlgaeAmmoniaAmmonia oxidizing bacteriumAnaerobic digestionAnaerobic membrane bioreactorArticleBacteriumBiomassBiomass productionBioreactorBioreactor designBiotechnologyChemistryConcentration (composition)Controlled studyCultureDesign methodDevicesEffluentEffluentsEnvironmental conditionsEnvironmental factorEquipment designFlat panelFlat-panelHydraulic retention timeIsolation and purificationLight irradianceMembraneMembrane photobioreactorMetabolismMicro-algaeMicroalgaMicroalgaeMicroalgae cultivationMicroorganismsMonoraphidiumNitrateNitriteNitrogenNitrogen and phosphorus removalNitrogen removalNonhumanNutrient concentrationNutrient loadingNutrientsOperations technologyOutdoorPanel dataPerformance assessmentPhosphorusPhotobioreactorPhotobioreactorsPilot plantPilot plantsPollutant removalProceduresRemovalRetention timeScenedesmusSewage treatmentSewage treatment plantSpargingTemperatureVolatile suspended solidsWaste waterWaste-water treatmentWastewaterWastewater treatmentWater managementWater purification

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Water Science And Technology due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency Scopus (SJR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2018, it was in position , thus managing to position itself as a Q2 (Segundo Cuartil), in the category Environmental Engineering. Notably, the journal is positioned en el Cuartil Q3 for the agency WoS (JCR) in the category Water Resources.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations from Scopus Elsevier, it yields a value for the Field-Weighted Citation Impact from the Scopus agency: 1.05, which indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 14, 2024)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Field Citation Ratio (FCR) from Dimensions: 3.14 (source consulted: Dimensions Jun 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-06-17, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 29
  • Scopus: 35
  • Europe PMC: 3
  • OpenCitations: 33

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-06-17:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 80.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 79 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 0.25.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 1 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (González-Camejo, JG) and Last Author (Ferrer Sánchez, Joaquim Antoni).

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been Barat Baviera, Ramón.