Cultivating chlorella sp. in a pilot-scale photobioreactor using centrate wastewater for microalgae biomass production and wastewater nutrient removal

Min Min; Liang Wang; Yecong Li; Michael J. Mohr; Bing Hu; Wenguang Zhou; Paul Chen; Roger Ruan

doi:10.1007/s12010-011-9238-7

Cultivating chlorella sp. in a pilot-scale photobioreactor using centrate wastewater for microalgae biomass production and wastewater nutrient removal

Min Min, Liang Wang, Yecong Li, Michael J. Mohr, Bing Hu, Wenguang Zhou, Paul Chen, Roger Ruan

Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

163 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study is concerned with a novel mass microalgae production system which, for the first time, uses "centrate", a concentrated wastewater stream, to produce microalgal biomass for energy production. Centrate contains a high level of nutrients that support algal growth. The objective of this study was to investigate the growth characteristics of a locally isolated microalgae strain Chlorella sp. in centrate and its ability to remove nutrients from centrate. A pilot-scale photobioreactor (PBR) was constructed at a local wastewater treatment plant. The system was tested under different harvesting rates and exogenous CO ₂ levels with the local strain of Chlorella sp. Under low light conditions (25 μmol·m ^-2s ^-1) the system can produce 34.6 and 17.7 μm-2day-1 biomass in terms of total suspended solids and volatile suspended solids, respectively. At a one fourth harvesting rate, reduction of chemical oxygen demand, total Kjeldahl nitrogen, and soluble total phosphorus were 70%, 61%, and 61%, respectively. The addition of CO ₂ to the system did not exhibit a positive effect on biomass productivity or nutrient removal in centrate which is an organic carbon rich medium. The unique PBR system is highly scalable and provides a great opportunity for biomass production coupled with wastewater treatment.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	123-137
Number of pages	15
Journal	Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology
Volume	165
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-011-9238-7
State	Published - Sep 2011

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Acknowledgments The authors are grateful to Dr. Robert C. Polta and Adam Sealock at the Saint Paul Metropolitan Council Environmental Services (MCES) for helping with system construction, data collection, and data analysis. This project was supported by grants from the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR), MCES, University of Minnesota Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment (IREE), and the Center for Biorefining at the University of Minnesota.

Copyright:
Copyright 2012 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

Keywords

CO
Centrate wastewater treatment
Harvest rate
Microalgae

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Cultivating chlorella sp. in a pilot-scale photobioreactor using centrate wastewater for microalgae biomass production and wastewater nutrient removal

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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