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Feasibility of algal systems for sustainable wastewater treatment

Author

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  • Selvaratnam, Thinesh
  • Pegallapati, Ambica
  • Montelya, Felly
  • Rodriguez, Gabriela
  • Nirmalakhandan, Nagamany
  • Lammers, Peter J.
  • van Voorhies, Wayne

Abstract

This paper proposes cultivation of algae in urban wastewaters as a sustainable approach for removing the nutrients from the wastewaters and generating energy from the biomass. The theoretical rationale of this proposal is that, the algal systems can produce nearly double the biomass per unit nutrient intake than bacterial systems and can generate nearly 20% more net energy. Preliminary experimental results are presented to demonstrate that a thermo-tolerant and acidophilic algal strain evaluated in this study-Galdieria sulphuraria, can grow well in primary settled urban wastewaters and can reduce nutrient levels to regulatory discharge levels at reasonable rates. Nutrient removal rates found in this study (4.70–5.0 mg L−1d−1 of nitrogen and 1.5–1.7 mg L−1d−1 of phosphate) are comparable to those by traditional methods.

Suggested Citation

  • Selvaratnam, Thinesh & Pegallapati, Ambica & Montelya, Felly & Rodriguez, Gabriela & Nirmalakhandan, Nagamany & Lammers, Peter J. & van Voorhies, Wayne, 2015. "Feasibility of algal systems for sustainable wastewater treatment," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 71-76.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:82:y:2015:i:c:p:71-76
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2014.07.061
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    1. Cabanelas, Iago Teles Dominguez & Arbib, Zouhayr & Chinalia, Fábio A. & Souza, Carolina Oliveira & Perales, José A. & Almeida, Paulo Fernando & Druzian, Janice Izabel & Nascimento, Iracema Andrade, 2013. "From waste to energy: Microalgae production in wastewater and glycerol," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 283-290.
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    1. Selvaratnam, T. & Henkanatte-Gedera, S.M. & Muppaneni, T. & Nirmalakhandan, N. & Deng, S. & Lammers, P.J., 2016. "Maximizing recovery of energy and nutrients from urban wastewaters," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 16-23.
    2. Saba, Beenish & Christy, Ann D. & Yu, Zhongtang & Co, Anne C., 2017. "Sustainable power generation from bacterio-algal microbial fuel cells (MFCs): An overview," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 75-84.
    3. Thorin, Eva & Olsson, Jesper & Schwede, Sebastian & Nehrenheim, Emma, 2018. "Co-digestion of sewage sludge and microalgae – Biogas production investigations," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 227(C), pages 64-72.
    4. Maria Rosa di Cicco & Maria Palmieri & Simona Altieri & Claudia Ciniglia & Carmine Lubritto, 2021. "Cultivation of the Acidophilic Microalgae Galdieria phlegrea with Wastewater: Process Yields," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-16, February.
    5. Moon, Myounghoon & Park, Won-Kun & Lee, Soo Youn & Hwang, Kyung-Ran & Lee, Sangmin & Kim, Min-Sik & Kim, Bolam & Oh, You-Kwan & Lee, Jin-Suk, 2022. "Utilization of whole microalgal biomass for advanced biofuel and biorefinery applications," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    6. Nugroho Adi Sasongko & Ryozo Noguchi & Junko Ito & Mikihide Demura & Sosaku Ichikawa & Mitsutoshi Nakajima & Makoto M. Watanabe, 2018. "Engineering Study of a Pilot Scale Process Plant for Microalgae-Oil Production Utilizing Municipal Wastewater and Flue Gases: Fukushima Pilot Plant," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-24, June.
    7. Sandra Lage & Zivan Gojkovic & Christiane Funk & Francesco G. Gentili, 2018. "Algal Biomass from Wastewater and Flue Gases as a Source of Bioenergy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-30, March.

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