Cultivation of microalgae species in tertiary municipal wastewater supplemented with CO2 for nutrient removal and biomass production

• Published in: Ecological engineering 2013-09, Vol.58, p.142-148
• Main Authors: Ji, Min-Kyu, Abou-Shanab, Reda A.I., Kim, Seong-Heon, Salama, El-Sayed, Lee, Sang-Hun, Kabra, Akhil N., Lee, Youn-Suk, Hong, Sungwoo, Jeon, Byong-Hun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; Applied sciences; Biodiesel; Biofuel production; Biological and medical sciences; Biomass; Biomass yield; Biotechnology; Carbon dioxide; Chlorella vulgaris; CO2; Cultivation; Domestic wastewater; Energy; Environment and sustainable development; Exact sciences and technology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Industrial applications and implications. Economical aspects; Joining; Lipids; Natural energy; Nutrient uptake; Nutrients; Ourococcus; Scenedesmus obliquus; Waste water
• ISSN: 0925-8574; 1872-6992
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoleng.2013.06.020

This study demonstrates the potential for algae-based biofuel production by coupling advanced wastewater treatment with microalgae cultivation for low-cost lipid production. Three species (Chlorella vulgaris, Scenedesmus obliquus and Ourococcus multisporus) with higher biomass yield were selected and cultured in wastewater amended with 15% CO2. C. vulgaris, S. obliquus and O. multisporus showed optimal specific growth rates (μopt) of 1.37, 1.14 and 1.00 day−1, respectively, and almost complete removal (>99%) of nitrogen and phosphorus within 4 days. The highest specific lipid productivity was 0.164g-lipidsg-cell−1 day−1 and oleic acid was increased to 44% in C. vulgaris after 7 days of cultivation in the presence of CO2. It was concluded that C. vulgaris is a good potential source for the production of biodiesel coupled with nutrient removal from wastewater.