Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Cultivation of Chlorella protothecoides in anaerobically treated brewery wastewater for cost-effective biodiesel production

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The use of wastewater has been investigated to overcome the economic challenge involved with a production of microalgae-based biodiesel. In this study, to achieve economical biodiesel production along with effective wastewater treatment at the same time, anaerobically treated brewery wastewater (ABWW) was utilized as a low-cost nutrient source, in the cultivation of Chlorella protothecoides. About 96 and 90 % of total nitrogen and phosphorus in ABWW were removed, respectively, while C. protothecoides was accumulating 1.88 g L−1 of biomass. The C. protothecoides grown in ABWW showed increases in cell size and cell aggregation, resulting in a near 80 % enhanced harvesting efficiency within 20 min, as compared with only 4 % in BG-11. In addition, the total fatty acid content of the C. protothecoides grown in ABWW increased by 1.84-fold (35.94 ± 1.54 % of its dry cell weight), relative to that of BG-11.

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

References

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

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Ghirardi ML, Zhang L, Lee JW, Flynn T, Seibert M, Greenbaum E, Melis A (2000) Microalgae: a green source of renewable H2. Trends Biotechnol 18:506–511

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Metting B, Pyne JW (1986) Biologically active compounds from microalgae. Enzyme Microb Technol 8:386–394

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Akkerman I, Janssen M, Rocha J, Wijffels RH (2002) Photobiological hydrogen production: photochemical efficiency and bioreactor design. Int J Hydrogen Energy 27:1195–1208

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Jiang L, Luo S, Fan X, Yang Z, Guo R (2011) Biomass and lipid production of marine microalgae using municipal wastewater and high concentration of CO2. Appl Energy 88:3336–3341

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Hongyang S, Yalei Z, Chunmin Z, Xuefei Z, Jinpeng L (2011) Cultivation of Chlorella pyrenoidosa in soybean processing wastewater. Bioresour Technol 102:9884–9890

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Molina Grima E, Belarbi E-H, Acién Fernández F, Robles Medina A, Chisti Y (2003) Recovery of microalgal biomass and metabolites: process options and economics. Biotechnol Adv 20:491–515

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Kim SG, Choi A, Ahn CY, Park CS, Park YH, Oh HM (2005) Harvesting of Spirulina platensis by cellular flotation and growth stage determination. Lett Appl Microbiol 40:190–194

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Norsker N-H, Barbosa MJ, Vermuë MH, Wijffels RH (2011) Microalgal production—a close look at the economics. Biotechnol Adv 29:24–27

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Uduman N, Qi Y, Danquah MK, Forde GM, Hoadley A (2010) Dewatering of microalgal cultures: a major bottleneck to algae-based fuels. J Renew Sustain Energy 2:012701

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Bernhardt H, Clasen J (1991) Flocculation of microorganism. J Water Supply Res Technol Aqua 40:76–87

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Papazi A, Makridis P, Divanach P (2010) Harvesting Chlorella minutissima using cell coagulants. J Appl Phycol 22:349–355

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Xu H, Miao X, Wu Q (2006) High quality biodiesel production from a microalga Chlorella protothecoides by heterotrophic growth in fermenters. J Biotechnol 126:499–507

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Sforza E, Cipriani R, Morosinotto T, Bertucco A, Giacometti GM (2012) Excess CO2 supply inhibits mixotrophic growth of Chlorella protothecoides and Nannochloropsis salina. Bioresour Technol 104:523–529

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Folch J, Lees M, Sloane-Stanley G (1957) A simple method for the isolation and purification of total lipids from animal tissues. J Biol Chem 226:497–509

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Xin L, Hong-ying H, Ke G, Ying-xue S (2010) Effects of different nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations on the growth, nutrient uptake, and lipid accumulation of a freshwater microalga Scenedesmus sp. Bioresour Technol 101:5494–5500

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Lee SH, Ahn C-Y, Jo B-H, Lee S-A, Park J-Y, An K-G, Oh H-M (2013) Increased microalgae growth and nutrient removal using balanced N:P ratio in wastewater. J Microbiol Biotechnol 23:92–98

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Karapinar Kapdan I, Aslan S (2008) Application of the Stover–Kincannon kinetic model to nitrogen removal by Chlorella vulgaris in a continuously operated immobilized photobioreactor system. J Chem Technol Biotechnol 83:998–1005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. 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  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Zhou W, Min M, Li Y, Hu B, Ma X, Cheng Y, Liu Y, Chen P, Ruan R (2012) A hetero-photoautotrophic two-stage cultivation process to improve wastewater nutrient removal and enhance algal lipid accumulation. Bioresour Technol 110:448–455

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Markou G, Georgakakis D (2011) Cultivation of filamentous cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) in agro-industrial wastes and wastewaters: a review. Appl Energy 88:3389–3401

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. De Morais MG, Costa JAV (2007) Biofixation of carbon dioxide by Spirulina sp. and Scenedesmus obliquus cultivated in a three-stage serial tubular photobioreactor. J Biotechnol 129:439–445

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Ogbonda KH, Aminigo RE, Abu GO (2007) Influence of temperature and pH on biomass production and protein biosynthesis in a putative Spirulina sp. Bioresour Technol 98:2207–2211

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Spilling K, Seppälä J, Tamminen T (2011) Inducing autoflocculation in the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum through CO2 regulation. J Appl Phycol 23:959–966

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Vandamme D, Foubert I, Fraeye I, Meesschaert B, Muylaert K (2012) Flocculation of Chlorella vulgaris induced by high pH: role of magnesium and calcium and practical implications. Bioresour Technol 105:114–119

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

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

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Sander K, Murthy GS (2010) Life cycle analysis of algae biodiesel. Int J Life Cycle Assess 15:704–714

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Dubber D, Gray NF (2010) Replacement of chemical oxygen demand (COD) with total organic carbon (TOC) for monitoring wastewater treatment performance to minimize disposal of toxic analytical waste. J Environ Sci Health Part A 45:1595–1600

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Moon M, Kim CW, Farooq W, Suh WI, Shrivastav A, Park MS, Mishra SK, Yang J-W (2014) Utilization of lipid extracted algal biomass and sugar factory wastewater for algal growth and lipid enhancement of Ettlia sp. Bioresour Technol 163:180–185

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Advanced Biomass R&D Center (ABC) of the Global Frontier Project funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (ABC-2010-0029728).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, KAIST, 291 Daehakno, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 305-701, Republic of Korea

    Cornelius Darpito, Won-Sub Shin, Seungjib Jeon, Hansol Lee, Kibok Nam, Jong-Hee Kwon & Ji-Won Yang

  2. Advanced Biomass R&D Center, KAIST, 291 Daehakno, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 305-701, Republic of Korea

    Ji-Won Yang

Authors
  1. Cornelius Darpito
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Won-Sub Shin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Seungjib Jeon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Hansol Lee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Kibok Nam
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Jong-Hee Kwon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Ji-Won Yang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Jong-Hee Kwon or Ji-Won Yang.

Additional information

C. Darpito and W.-S. Shin contributed equally to this work.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Darpito, C., Shin, WS., Jeon, S. et al. Cultivation of Chlorella protothecoides in anaerobically treated brewery wastewater for cost-effective biodiesel production. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 38, 523–530 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-014-1292-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-014-1292-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation