Case Studies
May 13, 2024

Effect of Light and Dark Regimes on Cultivation of Microalgae-Bacteria Consortium for Oilfield Wastewater Treatment

Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 150, Issue 7

Abstract

Microalgae-bacteria consortium for wastewater treatment has great potential for use in nutrient removal and biodiesel acquisition. In this study, the effect of four different light/dark regimes (6/18  h, 12/12  h, 18/6  h, 24/0  h) on biomass production and pollutant degradation during the treatment of oilfield wastewater by the algae-bacteria consortium was investigated. The maximum algal biomass (0.2  g/L) and total chlorophyll content (812.76μgmg1 cell dry weight1) were obtained due to an appropriate illumination cycle (18  hlight/6h dark) with enhanced dissolved oxygen content (5.87  mg/L), thus improving bacterial biomass (0.31  g/L). The ratio of microalgae to bacteria was essentially constant under different light/dark cycles. In addition, the highest removal rates of chemical oxygen demand (55.32%), ammonia nitrogen (50.75%), total nitrogen (64.53%), and total phosphorus (65.97%) were also obtained at the 18/6  h cycle, significantly different from the results of other light/dark cycles. The degradation efficiency of ammonia nitrogen by bacteria increased and then decreased with increasing light duration, while the removal rate of ammonia nitrogen by algae showed the opposite trend. The results indicated that the light and dark regimes had an important influence on the growth of the microalgae-bacteria consortium and their performance in treating oilfield wastewater.

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Data Availability Statement

All data, models, or code generated or used during the study are available from the corresponding author by request.

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51504192) and the Natural Science Basic Research Plan of Shaanxi Province (No. 2016JQ5102).

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Go to Journal of Environmental Engineering
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 150Issue 7July 2024

History

Received: Dec 18, 2023
Accepted: Feb 15, 2024
Published online: May 13, 2024
Published in print: Jul 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Oct 13, 2024

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Authors

Affiliations

Associate Professor, College of Petroleum Engineering, Xi’an Shiyou Univ., Xi’an 710065, China. Email: [email protected]
Engineer, Harde Oil and Gas Management Zone, PetroChina Tarim Oilfield Company, Korla 841000, China. Email: [email protected]
Postgraduate, College of Petroleum Engineering, Xi’an Shiyou Univ., Xi’an 710065, China. Email: [email protected]
Professor, College of Petroleum Engineering, Xi’an Shiyou Univ., Xi’an 710065, China (corresponding author). ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6229-6842. Email: [email protected]

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