Application of Cyanobacterial Consortium to Remove Ammoniacal-N, Phenol, and Nitrate from Synthetic Coke-Oven Wastewater as Tertiary Treatment
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 146, Issue 7
Abstract
This investigation focused on phycoremediation of pollutants from synthetic coke-oven wastewater using a cyanobacterial consortium of Leptolyngbya sp. and Planktothrix sp., and biomass production. Lethal dose analysis was performed for test strains with varying concentrations of pollutants, and maximum biomass obtained were , , and at phenol, ammoniacal-N, and nitrate, respectively. A one-factor-at-a-time (OFAT) approach was followed to determine suitable operating conditions for maximum removal by varying pH (8–10); inoculum size (IS) (5%–10%); and initial concentrations (ICs) of phenol (), ammoniacal-N (), and nitrate (). The most preferred condition as analyzed by OFAT was ; ; and initial concentrations of , a , and . Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to obtain the optimum condition for removal of the pollutants and biomass production. Further experiments were performed at the optimum conditions as analyzed by OFAT and RSM with synthetic treated coke-oven wastewater (STCW) containing mixed pollutants, and the results were compared. Both OFAT and RSM analysis results were effective for real wastewater treatment, but from an economic point of view, OFAT analysis results were more suitable. Biomolecules, namely carbohydrate, protein, and lipid molecules, were extracted from treated cyanobacterial biomass to assess the prospect of value-added product formation. Mechanistic pathways for metabolism of pollutants were discussed.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
The authors are thankful to IMPRINT, Government of India [Sanction order no. F.No.3-18/2015-T.S.-I (Vol. III), dated April 24, 2017], and the National Institute of Technology Durgapur (Sanction order no. NITD/Regis/702/17, dated February 15, 2017) for providing the project funds to carry out this research work.
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Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 146 • Issue 7 • July 2020
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©2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Oct 26, 2019
Accepted: Jan 13, 2020
Published online: May 5, 2020
Published in print: Jul 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Oct 5, 2020
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