IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i10p4511-d1656600.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Promotion of Microalgal Growth, CO 2 Fixation, and Pollutant Removal in Piggery Effluent by a Column Photobioreactor with Funnel-Shaped Spoilers

Author

Listed:
  • Yinghui Ji

    (College of Chemical and Material Engineering, Quzhou University, Quzhou 324000, China
    College of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China)

  • Hui Zhang

    (School of Life Sciences, Jinggangshan University, Ji’an 343009, China)

  • Pin Wang

    (Zhejiang Geological Institute of Metallurgical Geology of China, Quzhou 324000, China)

  • Guohui Lin

    (Zhejiang Juhua Cogeneration Co., Ltd., Quzhou 324000, China)

  • Haining Yang

    (Zhejiang Juhua Cogeneration Co., Ltd., Quzhou 324000, China)

  • Hai-Xiang Cheng

    (College of Chemical and Material Engineering, Quzhou University, Quzhou 324000, China)

Abstract

To enhance contact time between microalgae and nutrients in reactors, thereby improving the growth rate of microalgae and increasing pollutant removal efficiency, two funnel-shaped spoilers were added inside a traditional column photobioreactor. Compared to conventional column photobioreactors, the addition of these spoilers resulted in increased updraft, which improved horizontal flow. This change led to a greater shear force near the spoilers and a reduction in bubble diameter. As a result, the mass transfer coefficient and gas content increased by 12.17% and 7.71%, respectively, while the mixing time decreased by 30.57%. These improvements resulted in an 18.18% increase in microalgal biomass, a 13.95% increase in the CO 2 fixation rate, and increases of 4.48%, 7.5%, and 4.7% in the removal of COD, TP, and NH 4 + -N, respectively, in the column photobioreactor with funnel-shaped spoilers. This was achieved when CO 2 was introduced at a concentration of 10%, compared to a conventional column photobioreactor. This innovative design enhances the growth efficiency of microalgae, offering a new solution for reducing carbon emissions, promoting recycling of water resources, and advancing sustainable development.

Suggested Citation

  • Yinghui Ji & Hui Zhang & Pin Wang & Guohui Lin & Haining Yang & Hai-Xiang Cheng, 2025. "Promotion of Microalgal Growth, CO 2 Fixation, and Pollutant Removal in Piggery Effluent by a Column Photobioreactor with Funnel-Shaped Spoilers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-17, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:10:p:4511-:d:1656600
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/10/4511/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/10/4511/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kailong Bai & Wenying Qu & Duo Song & Junfeng Li & Shih-Hsin Ho, 2024. "Sustainable Treatment of Swine Wastewater: Optimizing the Culture Conditions of Tetradesmus cf. obliquus to Improve Treatment Efficiency," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-17, May.
    2. Indrajeet Singh & Ashutosh Pandey & Sumarlin Shangdiar & Piyush Kant Rai & Ajay Kumar & Kassian T. T. Amesho & Faizal Bux, 2023. "Towards Sustainable Energy: Harnessing Microalgae Biofuels for a Greener Future," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-27, September.
    3. Nilay Kumar Sarker & Prasad Kaparaju, 2024. "Microalgal Bioeconomy: A Green Economy Approach Towards Achieving Sustainable Development Goals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-45, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sujit Kumar Nayak & Pratap Bhattacharyya & Soumya Ranjan Padhy & Anubhav Das & Shiva Prasad Parida & Monalisha Rath & Anweshita Nayak, 2025. "Harnessing the potential of microalgae for carbon sequestration to achieve net-zero emissions," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 30(7), pages 1-35, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Guilherme Henrique da Silva & Natália dos Santos Renato & Alisson Carraro Borges & Marcio Arêdes Martins & Alberto José Delgado dos Reis & Marcelo Henrique Otenio, 2024. "Valorization and Bioremediation of Digestate from Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Giant Reed ( Arundo donax L.) and Cattle Wastewater Using Microalgae," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-20, November.
    2. Marcin Zieliński & Marta Kisielewska & Annamaria Talpalaru & Paulina Rusanowska & Joanna Kazimierowicz & Marcin Dębowski, 2025. "Integration of Aquaculture Wastewater Treatment and Chlorella vulgaris Cultivation as a Sustainable Method for Biofuel Production," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-23, August.
    3. Sofia Vaz & Rui Martins & Helena M. Pinheiro & Laura Monteiro, 2025. "Effect of Hydraulic Retention Time on Nutrient Removal in a Microalgae-Based Tertiary Treatment: A Pilot-Scale Study in Winter Conditions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-20, August.
    4. Juan Pablo Pereira Lima & André Aguiar, 2025. "Evaluating the Performance of a Wastewater Treatment Plant of a Dairy Facility in Southern Minas Gerais, Brazil," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-15, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:10:p:4511-:d:1656600. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.