Microalgae as biological matrix for dairy effluent remediation

GAGNETEN, A.M.; RENO, U.; REGALDO, L.

Serdang Selangor

Simposio; The Second Bioprocessing and Biomanufacturing Symposium; 2017

Bioprocessing & Biomanufacturing Res. Centre (BBRC) Fac. of Biotechnol. and Biomolec. Sciences Univ. Putra; Depart. of Bioprocess Technol. Fac. Biotechnol. and Biomolec. Sciences Univ. Putra; Bioprocess Technol. Div. School of Indus. Technol. Univ. Sains

Intensive livestock production in emerging countries that base their economy on non-value-added raw materials generates large volumes of effluents that have a high content of solids, nutrients, organic matter, and microorganisms. These effluents can negatively modify the natural environments receiving them by superficial runoff or infiltration through the soil, contaminating the groundwater with possible damage to the health of the populations?especially the rural ones?that obtain the water from those aquifers. Phycoremediation, which uses the purifying capacity of microalgae to eliminate or biotransform contaminants, has emerged as a technology for wastewater treatment. The objective of the present work is to evaluate the potential of Chlorella vulgaris to remove nutrients present in effluents generated in a dairy farm and to know the concentration of chlorophyll a and the percentage of crude protein in the algal biomass obtained. C. vulgaris was grown in culture medium with 25% effluent from dairy production for seven days. At the beginning and end of the assay, the following variables were determined: ammonium, nitrites, nitrates, total phosphorus, biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), and pH. In addition, the amount (%) of crude proteins and chlorophyll-a were quantified in the obtained algal biomass. At the end of the assay, the following parameters decreased: ammonium, BOD, and COD = 97.1%, 81.7%, and 80.8% respectively. In the pellet, chlorophyll-a and the percentage of proteins reached values of 1.68 μg L-1 and 3.75 % respectively. The results demonstrate the potential of C. vulgaris for the reduction of pollutants. In addition, it was shown that effluents from dairy production may be a less expensive alternative for the growth of microalga, with environmental and economic benefits.