Algae Grown on Dairy and Municipal Wastewater for Simultaneous Nutrient Removal and Lipid Production for Biofuel Feedstock
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 135, Issue 11
Abstract
Algae grown on wastewater media are a potential source of low-cost lipids for production of liquid biofuels. This study investigated lipid productivity and nutrient removal by green algae grown during treatment of dairy farm and municipal wastewaters supplemented with . Dairy wastewater was treated outdoors in bench-scale batch cultures. The lipid content of the volatile solids peaked at Day 6, during exponential growth, and declined thereafter. Peak lipid content ranged from 14–29%, depending on wastewater concentration. Maximum lipid productivity also peaked at Day 6 of batch growth, with a volumetric productivity of 17 mg/day/L of reactor and an areal productivity of , which would be equivalent to 11,000 L/ha/year (1,200 gal/acre/year) if sustained year round. After 12 days, ammonium and orthophosphate removals were 96 and , respectively. Municipal wastewater was treated in semicontinuous indoor cultures with 2–4 day hydraulic residence times (HRTs). Maximum lipid productivity for the municipal wastewater was 24 mg/day/L, observed in the 3-day HRT cultures. Over 99% removal of ammonium and orthophosphate was achieved. The results from both types of wastewater suggest that -supplemented algae cultures can simultaneously remove dissolved nitrogen and phosphorus to low levels while generating a feedstock potentially useful for liquid biofuels production.
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Acknowledgments
Funding was provided by a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency “People, Prosperity, and the Planet” grant, as well as a U.S. Department of Energy Small Business Innovation Research grant to MicroBio Engineering, Inc. Lundquist was supported in part by the U.S. Office of Naval Research via the California Central Coast Research Partnership. The writers are grateful for consultation provided by Dr. John Benemann.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 135 • Issue 11 • November 2009
Pages: 1115 - 1122
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: Jun 17, 2008
Accepted: Jul 21, 2009
Published online: Jul 23, 2009
Published in print: Nov 2009
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