Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Treatment of dairy wastewater by microalgae Chlorella vulgaris for biofuels production

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In this study, two different initial concentrations of Chlorella vulgaris were injected into two types of dairy wastewater (referred to as wastewater and effluent, respectively) at a percentage of 25, 50, and 75% (v/v), and nutrient removal, microalgae growth and lipid accumulation were examined throughout cultivation (wastewater = before purification and effluent = after Purification). Different concentrations of injected algae, the type of applied wastewater, and different dilution ratios had an important effect on nutrient removal and microalgae growth. The highest amount of nutrients and algal cell number in the initial dose of algae (13 million cells/ml) and mediums of effluent and in wastewater related to dilutions (25, 50, and 75%) respectively. Concerning lipid accumulation in Chlorella vulgaris, the highest concentration was observed in effluent and wastewater at a dilution of 50% and 75%, respectively. In general, it can be concluded that wastewater is more suitable than effluent for lipid production. The aim of this study is production biofuels by biomass and low cost.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

FAME:

fatty acid methyl ester

References

  1. APHA (1992) Standard methods for the examination of water and waste water. American Public Health Association, 18th edn. Washington, D.C., p 183

  2. Bajhaiya A, Mandotra S, Suseela M, Toppo K, Ranade S (2010) Algal biodiesel the next generation biofuel for India. Asian J Exp Biol Sci 4:728–739

    Google Scholar 

  3. Barsanti L, Gualtieri P (2014) Algae: anatomy, biochemistry, and biotechnology. CRC press, p 295

  4. Brennan L, Owende P (2010) Biofuels from microalgae—a review of technologies for production, processing, and extractions of biofuels and co-products. Renew Sust Energ Rev 14:557–577

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Chandra R, Ghosh UK (2019) Effects of various abiotic factors on biomass growth and lipid yield of Chlorella minutissima for sustainable biodiesel production. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26:3848–3861

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Gorgian MH, Hossieni A, Rezaei H, Meftah M, & Yusefi H. 2013. Comparison of biosorption of lead and cadmium using micro and nanoparticles of algae Senedesmus sp. PhD Thesis, 121p

    Google Scholar 

  7. Hosseini Tafreshi A, Shariati M (2009) Dunaliella biotechnology: methods and applications. J Appl Microbiol 107:14–35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Huo S, Wang Z, Zhu S, Zhou W, Dong R, Yuan Z (2012) Cultivation of Chlorella zofingiensis in bench-scale outdoor ponds by regulation of pH using dairy wastewater in winter, South China. Bioresour Technol 121:76–82

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Indarti E, Majid MIA, Hashim R, Chong A (2005) Direct FAME synthesis for rapid total lipid analysis from fish oil and cod liver oil. J Food Compos Anal 18:161–170

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Kothari R, Prasad R, Kumar V, Singh D (2013) Production of biodiesel from microalgae Chlamydomonas polypyrenoideum grown on dairy industry wastewater. Bioresour Technol 144:499–503

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Kumar A, Sharma S, Shah E, Parikh B, Patel A, Dixit G, Gupta S, Divecha J (2019) Cultivation of Ascochloris sp. ADW007-enriched microalga in raw dairy wastewater for enhanced biomass and lipid productivity. Int J Environ Sci Technol 16:943–954

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Liang Y, Sarkany N, Cui Y (2009) Biomass and lipid productivities of Chlorella vulgaris under autotrophic, heterotrophic and mixotrophic growth conditions. Biotechnol Lett 31:1043–1049

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Liandung ZH, Zhongming W, Sh Q, Josu T, Erkki H, Pingzhong F, Zhenhong Y (2013) Nutrient removal and biodiesel production by integration of freshwater algae cultivation with piggery wastewater treatment. J Water Res 47(13):4294–4302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Martinez M, Sánchez S, Jimenez J, El Yousfi F, Munoz L (2000) Nitrogen and phosphorus removal from urban wastewater by the microalga Scenedesmus obliquus. Bioresour Technol 73:263–272

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Mata TM, Martins AA, Caetano NS (2010) Microalgae for biodiesel production and other applications: a review. Renew Sust Energ Rev 14:217–232

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Menetrez MY (2012) An overview of algae biofuel production and potential environmental impact. Environ Sci Technol 46:7073–7085

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Mulbry W, Kondrad S, Buyer J (2008) Treatment of dairy and swine manure effluents using freshwater algae: fatty acid content and composition of algal biomass at different manure loading rates. J Appl Phycol 20:1079–1085

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Ran T, Viljami K, Ramasamy P, Aino ML, Jukka AR (2017) Comparison of Scenedesmus acuminatus and Chlorella vulgaris cultivation in liquid digestates from anaerobic digestion of pulp and paper industry and municipal wastewater treatment sludge. J Appl Phycol 29:2845–2856

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Ribeiro LA, Pereira da Silva P (2012) Technoeconomic assessment on innovative biofuel technologies: the case of microalgae. ISRN Renew Energy 2012

  20. Silva CKD, Almeida ACAD, Costa JAV, Morais MGD (2018) Cyanobacterial biomass by reuse of wastewater-containing hypochlorite. Ind Biotechnol 14:265–269

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Spolaore P, Joannis-Cassan C, Duran E, Isambert A (2006) Commercial applications of microalgae. J Biosci Bioeng 101:87–96

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Stell R, Torrie J, Dickey D (1980) Principles and procedures of statistics: a biometrical approach. MacGraw-Hill, New York

    Google Scholar 

  23. Tao R, Kinnunen V, Praveenkumar R, Lakaniemi A-M, Rintala JA (2017) Comparison of Scenedesmus acuminatus and Chlorella vulgaris cultivation in liquid digestates from anaerobic digestion of pulp and paper industry and municipal wastewater treatment sludge. J Appl Phycol 29:2845–2856

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Wang L, Min M, Li Y, Chen P, Chen Y, Liu Y, Wang Y, Ruan R (2010) Cultivation of green algae Chlorella sp. in different wastewaters from municipal wastewater treatment plant. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 162:1174–1186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Wen X, Du K, Wang Z, Peng X, Luo L, Tao H, Xu Y, Zhang D, Geng Y, Li Y (2016) Effective cultivation of microalgae for biofuel production: a pilot-scale evaluation of a novel oleaginous microalga Graesiella sp. WBG-1. Biotechnol Biofuel 9:123

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Xia T, Liu Z, Pan X, Huang E, Chen D, Xiao Z (2019) Effects of dilution ratio on nutrient removal, sedimentation efficiency, and lipid production by Scenedesmus obliquus in diluted cattle wastewater. Energy Sources, Part A: Recovery, Utilization, and Environmental Effects 42(1):121–130

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Xia T, Liu Z, Pan X, Huang E, Chen D, Xiao Z (2020) Effects of dilution ratio on nutrient removal, sedimentation efficiency, and lipid production by Scenedesmus obliquus in diluted cattle wastewater. Energy Sourc A: Recov Utiliz Environ Effect 42:121–130

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Zhu L, Wang Z, Shu Q, Takala J, Hiltunen E, Feng P, Yuan Z (2013a) Nutrient removal and biodiesel production by integration of freshwater algae cultivation with piggery wastewater treatment. Water Res 47:4294–4302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Zhu L, Wang Z, Takala J, Hiltunen E, Qin L, Xu Z, Qin X, Yuan Z (2013b) Scale-up potential of cultivating Chlorella zofingiensis in piggery wastewater for biodiesel production. Bioresour Technol 137:318–325

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Conflict of interest

The authors declared no potential conflict of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

This article is a part of the dissertation titled “The Potential of microalgae Chlorella vulgaris in the treatment of industrial wastewater with the aim of biofuels production. In Ph.D.” in 2016, supported by Gorgon University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources in Iran has been.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Aquatic Production and Exploitation, Faculty of Fisheries and Environmental Sciences, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Recourses, Gorgan, Iran

    Mahtab Khalaji, Seyed Abbas Hosseini & Rasoul Ghorbani

  2. Faculty of Fisheries, Uremia University, Uremia, Iran

    Nasser Agh

  3. Department of Environment, Faculty of Fisheries and Environmental Sciences, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Recourses, Gorgan, Iran

    Hasan Rezaei

  4. Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering and Environmental Technology, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Patras, 26504, Patras, Greece

    Michael Kornaros & Eleni Koutra

Authors
  1. Mahtab Khalaji
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Seyed Abbas Hosseini
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Rasoul Ghorbani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Nasser Agh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Hasan Rezaei
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Michael Kornaros
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Eleni Koutra
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mahtab Khalaji.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Khalaji, M., Hosseini, S.A., Ghorbani, R. et al. Treatment of dairy wastewater by microalgae Chlorella vulgaris for biofuels production. Biomass Conv. Bioref. 13, 3259–3265 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-021-01287-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-021-01287-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation