Phycoremediation and Biogas Production Potential of Chlorella Vulgaris Grown in Secondarily Treated Wastewater
Ram Chavan1, Srikanth Mutnuri2
1Ram Chavan, Biological Sciences, BITS Pilani, KK Birla Goa campus, Goa, India.
2Srikanth Mutnuri*, Biological Sciences, BITS Pilani, KK Birla Goa campus, Goa, India.
Manuscript received on 5 August 2019. | Revised Manuscript received on 11 August 2019. | Manuscript published on 30 September 2019. | PP: 1939-1945 | Volume-8 Issue-3 September 2019 | Retrieval Number: C4477098319/19©BEIESP | DOI: 10.35940/ijrte.C4477.098319
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© The Authors. Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Abstract: Present study aims at exploring parallel nutrient removal from secondarily treated wastewater and biogas production potential of Chlorella vulgaris. The observed growth rate (per day) and doubling time (days) of C. vulgaris was 0.36 and 0.44, respectively. C. vulgaris has removed 31 % COD, 40 % PO4-P , 36 % NH4-N and 38 % TKN from secondarily treated wastewater using open raceway pond. The biomass was analyzed for proteins, carbohydrates, Lipids, fibres, TS and VS. The optimum loading rate for maximum biogas yield was found to be 2 g VS/L. Effect of various pre-treatment methods (thermal, chemical, sonication and thermo-chemical) has also been studied. The biomass and biomass extract (before and after pre-treatments) were also analyzed for solubilization of complex compounds. Thermally pre-treated biomass has increased biogas production by 60 % (480 mL/g VS) relative to untreated biomass (350 mL/g VS). This study has successfully demonstrated that microalgal cultivation in wastewater can be easily adopted in currently available wastewater treatment plants without any major modifications of existing available infrastructure.
Keywords: Chlorella Vulgaris, Phycoremediation, Biogas, Wastewater Treatment, Open Raceway Pond .
Scope of the Article: Production Engineering