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Utilization of secondary-treated wastewater for the production of freshwater microalgae

  • Bioenergy and biofuels
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Abstract

In this work, we studied the potential use of secondary-treated wastewater as nutrient source in the production of freshwater microalgae strains. Experiments were performed indoors in a semicontinuous mode, at 0.3 day−1, simulating outdoor conditions. We demonstrated that all the tested strains can be produced by using only secondary-treated wastewater as the nutrient source. The utilization of secondary-treated wastewater imposes nutrient-limiting conditions, with maximal biomass productivity dropping to 0.5 g l−1 day−1 and modifies the biochemical composition of the biomass by increasing the amount of lipids and carbohydrates while reducing the biomass protein content. We measured fatty acid content and productivity of up to 25 %d.wt. and 110 mg l−1 day−1, respectively. We demonstrated that all the tested strains were capable of completely removing the nitrogen and phosphorus contained in the secondary-treated wastewater, and while the use of this effluent reduced the cells’ photosynthetic efficiency, the nitrogen and phosphorus coefficient yield increased. Muriellopsis sp. and S. subpicatus were selected as the most promising strains for outdoor production using secondary-treated wastewater as the culture medium; this was not only because of their high productivity but also their photosynthetic efficiency, of up to 2.5 %, along with nutrient coefficient yields of up to 96 gbiomass gN −1 and 166 gbiomass gP −1. Coupling microalgae production processes to tertiary treatment in wastewater treatment plants make it possible to recover nutrients contained in the water and to produce valuable biomass, especially where nutrient removal is required prior to wastewater discharge.

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Acknowledgments

This research was financed by National Institute for Agriculture and Food Technology in Spain (INIA) by the PURALGA project. We are most grateful to Aqualia S.A. for providing water samples and Estación Experimental Las Palmerillas of Fundación Cajamar for collaborating in this research. This research was supported by the Junta de Andalucía and the Plan Andaluz de Investigación (BIO 173).

Conflict of interest

Authors mutually agree to submit this manuscript to Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology for publication. It is an original work that has not been previously submitted to Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology for publication. Research was supported by National Institute for Agriculture and Food Technology in Spain with no conflict with whatever national or international organism existing. In this research, no animals or humans are involved and microorganisms used are not genetically modified.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Almería, Carretera Sacramento s/n, E04120, Almería, Spain

    C. Gómez-Serrano, M. M. Morales-Amaral, F. G. Acién, R. Escudero, J. M. Fernández-Sevilla & E. Molina-Grima

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  1. C. Gómez-Serrano
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  2. M. M. Morales-Amaral
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  3. F. G. Acién
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  4. R. Escudero
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  5. J. M. Fernández-Sevilla
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  6. E. Molina-Grima
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Correspondence to F. G. Acién.

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Gómez-Serrano, C., Morales-Amaral, M.M., Acién, F.G. et al. Utilization of secondary-treated wastewater for the production of freshwater microalgae. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 99, 6931–6944 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-015-6694-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-015-6694-y

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