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. 2024 Aug;90(4):1306-1320.
doi: 10.2166/wst.2024.283. Epub 2024 Aug 14.

Wastewater treatment process using immobilized microalgae

Ihana Aguiar Severo  1 , Otto Gustavo de Avila Azevedo  2 , Paulo Alexandre Silveira da Silva  3 , Beatriz Jacob-Furlan  3 , André Bellin Mariano  3 , Juan C Ordonez  4 , José Viriato Coelho Vargas  3
Affiliations

Wastewater treatment process using immobilized microalgae

Ihana Aguiar Severo et al. Water Sci Technol. 2024 Aug.

Abstract

Microalgae biomass products are gaining popularity due to their diverse applications in various sectors. However, the costs associated with media ingredients and cell harvesting pose challenges to the scale-up of microalgae cultivation. This study evaluated the growth and nutrient removal efficiency (RE) of immobilized microalgae Tetradesmus obliquus in sodium alginate beads cultivated in swine manure-based wastewater compared to free cells. The main findings of this research include (i) immobilized cells outperformed free cells, showing approximately 2.3 times higher biomass production, especially at 10% effluent concentration; (ii) enhanced organic carbon removal was observed, with a significant 62% reduction in chemical oxygen demand (383.46-144.84 mg L-1) within 48 h for immobilized cells compared to 6% in free culture; (iii) both immobilized and free cells exhibited efficient removal of total nitrogen and total phosphorus, with high REs exceeding 99% for phosphorus. In addition, microscopic analysis confirmed successful cell dispersion within the alginate beads, ensuring efficient light and substrate transfer. Overall, the results highlight the potential of immobilization techniques and alternative media, such as biodigested swine manure, to enhance microalgal growth and nutrient RE, offering promising prospects for sustainable wastewater treatment processes.

Keywords: Tetradesmus obliquus; alginate; biodigested swine manure; cell immobilization; nutrient removal.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare there is no conflict.

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