Abstract
The feasibility of growing Chlorella sp. in the centrate, a highly concentrated municipal wastewater stream generated from activated sludge thickening process, for simultaneous wastewater treatment and energy production was tested. The characteristics of algal growth, biodiesel production, wastewater nutrient removal and the viability of scale-up and the stability of continuous operation were examined. Two culture media, namely autoclaved centrate (AC) and raw centrate (RC) were used for comparison. The results showed that by the end of a 14-day batch culture, algae could remove ammonia, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and chemical oxygen demand (COD) by 93.9%, 89.1%, 80.9%, and 90.8%, respectively from raw centrate, and the fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) content was 11.04% of dry biomass providing a biodiesel yield of 0.12. g-biodiesel/L-algae culture solution. The system could be successfully scaled up, and continuously operated at 50% daily harvesting rate, providing a net biomass productivity of 0.92. g-algae/(L day).
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 5138-5144 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Bioresource Technology |
| Volume | 102 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Apr 2011 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors gratefully acknowledge Metropolitan Council Environmental Services for providing centrate samples and University of Minnesota Initiative for Renewable Energy (IREE) for funding support.
Keywords
- Biodiesel production
- Microalgae Chlorella
- Municipal wastewater
- Nutrient removal
