Current practices and challenges in using microalgae for treatment of nutrient rich wastewater from agro-based industries

Gupta, Suvidha; Pawar, Sanjay B.; Pandey, R.A.

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.06.115

Cited by 145 publications

(69 citation statements)

References 106 publications

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“…(Figure 2b), much lower than that of Period BRT-2: 58.8 ± 20.0%. These results highlight the importance of operating conditions on microalgae-nitrifying competition since nitrification can account for up to 85% of the total influent nitrogen in microalgaebacteria consortia (Gupta et al, 2019). Consequently, MPBR yields (i.e.…”

Section: Continuous Lab-scale Operationmentioning

confidence: 84%

“…It should be highlighted that in spite of nitrite can act as nitrogen source for microalgae growth (Gupta et al, 2019), its accumulation in a microalgae culture is not convenient since nitrite ion can negatively affect microalgae (Abe et al, 2002). According to Sijbesma et al (1996), nitrite ion increases the proton permeability of cell membranes, inhibiting the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthesis and stimulating its hydrolysis.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Nitrite inhibition of microalgae induced by the competition between microalgae and nitrifying bacteria

et al. 2020

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Outdoor microalgae cultivation systems treating anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) effluents usually present ammonium oxidising bacteria (AOB) competition with microalgae for ammonium uptake, which can cause nitrite accumulation. In literature, nitrite effects over microalgae have shown controversial results. The present study evaluates the nitrite inhibition role in a microalgae-nitrifying bacteria culture. For this purpose, pilot-and lab-scale assays were carried out. During the continuous outdoor operation of the membrane photobioreactor (MPBR) plant, biomass retention time (BRT) of 2 d favoured AOB activity, which caused nitrite accumulation. This nitrite was confirmed to inhibit microalgae performance. Specifically, continuous 5-d lab-scale assays showed a reduction in the nitrogen recovery efficiency by 32, 42 and 80% when nitrite concentration in the culture accounted for 5, 10 and 20 mg N•L-1 , respectively. On the contrary, short 30-min exposure to nitrite showed no significant differences in 2 the photosynthetic activity of microalgae under nitrite concentrations of 0, 5, 10 and 20 mg N•L-1. On the other hand, when the MPBR plant was operated at 2.5-d BRT, the nitrite concentration was reduced to negligible values due to increasing activity of microalgae and nitrite oxidising bacteria (NOB). This allowed obtaining maximum MPBR performance; i.e. nitrogen recovery rate (NRR) and biomass productivity of 19.7 ± 3.3 mg N•L-1 •d-1 and 139 ± 35 mg VSS•L-1 •d-1 , respectively; while nitrification rate (NOxR) reached the lowest value (13.5 ± 3.4 mg N•L-1 •d-1). Long BRT of 4.5 d favoured NOB growth, avoiding nitrite inhibition. However, it implied a decrease in microalgae growth and the accumulation of nitrate in the MPBR effluent. Hence, it seems that optimum BRT has to be within the range 2-4.5 d in order to favour microalgae growth with respect to AOB and NOB.

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Section: Continuous Lab-scale Operationmentioning

confidence: 84%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nitrite inhibition of microalgae induced by the competition between microalgae and nitrifying bacteria

et al. 2020

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“…The realization of algal‐based wastewater systems is also hampered by the uneconomical downstream processing methods currently in use (i.e., harvesting and dewatering techniques) which have been shown to contribute up to 30% of the overall production cost. [ 42,43 ] Existing harvesting methods (i.e., centrifugation, filtration, coagulation, and flocculation) employed have been reported to be inefficient and not cost‐favorable for large‐scale cultivation of microalgae in wastewater. [ 42 ] As such, a novel or combination of existing harvesting methods in order to achieve high biomass recovery with minimal energy and operating cost is needed.…”

Section: Microalgal Species For Wastewater Treatmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Algal Cultivation for Treating Wastewater in African Developing Countries: A Review

Nwoba

Vadiveloo

Ogbonna

et al. 2020

CLEAN Soil Air Water

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The tremendous increase in human population and rapid decline in freshwater resources have necessitated the development of innovative and sustainable wastewater treatment methods. Africa as a developing continent is currently backing on sustainable solutions to tackle impending water resource crisis brought forward by wastewater‐induced environmental pollution and climate change. Microalgae‐based wastewater treatment systems represent an emerging technology that is capable of meeting the new demand for improved wastewater treatment and climate change mitigation strategies in an environmentally friendly manner. This review critically looks at the opportunities of Africa in harnessing and exploiting the potential of microalgae for the treatment of various wastewaters based on their capacity to recycle nutrients and for concurrent production of valuable biomass and several useful metabolites. Wastewaters, if improperly/completely untreated and discharged, simultaneously pollute freshwater sources and present significant health and environmental risks. Nutrients in wastewater can be utilized and recovered in the form of marketable biomass and products when integrated with the cultivation of microalgae. Several valuable bioproducts can be generated from wastewater‐grown microalgal biomass including biofuels, biofertilizers, animal feed, and various bioactive compounds. This biorefinery approach would most certainly improve wastewater treatment process economics, enhancing the technical feasibility of algae‐based wastewater remediation in African countries.

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“…Microalgae/bacteria consortia have been recently suggested as effective in the treatment of different kinds of urban [15][16][17][18], as well as agro-industrial [19], wastewater. According to some authors, microalgae-based processes are not suitable to treat dairy wastewater as such, due to the high polluting load they carry [20,21]. Indeed, most of the experiments were performed on diluted or pre-treated wastewater [22][23][24].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interactions between Microalgae and Bacteria in the Treatment of Wastewater from Milk Whey Processing

Marazzi

Bellucci

Fantasia

et al. 2020

Water

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Milk whey processing wastewaters (MWPWs) are characterized by high COD and organic nitrogen content; the concentrations of phosphorus are also relevant. A microalgal-based process was tested at lab scale in order to assess the feasibility of treating MWPW without any dilution or pre-treatment. Different microalgal strains and populations were tested. Based on the obtained results, Scenedesmus acuminatus (SA) and a mixed population (PM) chiefly made of Chlorella, Scenedesmus, and Chlamydomonas spp. were grown in duplicate for 70 days in Plexiglas column photobioreactors (PBRs), fed continuously (2.5 L culture volume, 7 days hydraulic retention time). Nutrient removal, microalgae growth, photosynthetic efficiency, and the composition of microalgal populations in the columns were monitored. At steady state, the microalgal growth was similar for SA and PM. The average removal efficiencies for the main pollutants were: 93% (SA), 94% (PM) for COD; 88% (SA) and 90% (PM) for total N; and 69% (SA) and 73% (PM) for total P. The residual pollution levels in the effluent from the PBRs were low enough to allow their discharge into surface waters; such good results were achieved thanks to the synergy between the microalgae and bacteria in the CO2 and oxygen production/consumption and in the nitrogen mineralization.

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Current practices and challenges in using microalgae for treatment of nutrient rich wastewater from agro-based industries

Cited by 145 publications

References 106 publications

Nitrite inhibition of microalgae induced by the competition between microalgae and nitrifying bacteria

Nitrite inhibition of microalgae induced by the competition between microalgae and nitrifying bacteria

Algal Cultivation for Treating Wastewater in African Developing Countries: A Review

Interactions between Microalgae and Bacteria in the Treatment of Wastewater from Milk Whey Processing

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