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Removal of Copper by Free and Immobilized Microalga, Chlorella vulgaris

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Wastewater Treatment with Algae

Part of the book series: Biotechnology Intelligence Unit ((BIOIU))

Abstract

Toxic heavy metals of industrial wastes are major pollutants which must be removed before discharge. Microalgal biomass, because of its high metal uptake capacity and high multiplication rate, has been applied as a simple and effective alternative to remove heavy metals from industrial wastewater. The capacity of adsorbing/absorbing and accumulating heavy metals in microalgal cells depend on many biotic factors, in particular, the cell density and how algal cells are pretreated before use. The effectiveness of microalgal cells to remove heavy metals can further be enhanced by immobilization which not only eliminates the necessity for separating the cells from treated wastewater, but also makes the regeneration and reuse of the immobilized micro algal cells become possible. This chapter presents and discusses the experimental findings on: 1) the effects of cell density on removal of copper by free Chlorella vulgaris; 2) the performance of living and dead (killed by different methods) microalgal cells on copper removal; 3) the removal of copper by alginate immobilized cells; and 4) the regeneration and reuse of immobilized algal biomass.

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Authors
  1. Nora F. Y. Tam
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  2. Yuk-Shan Wong
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  3. Craig G. Simpson
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Research Centre, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong

    Yuk-Shan Wong

  2. Department of Biology and Chemistry, The City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong

    Nora F. Y. Tam

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© 1998 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Tam, N.F.Y., Wong, YS., Simpson, C.G. (1998). Removal of Copper by Free and Immobilized Microalga, Chlorella vulgaris . In: Wong, YS., Tam, N.F.Y. (eds) Wastewater Treatment with Algae. Biotechnology Intelligence Unit. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-10863-5_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-10863-5_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-662-10865-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-10863-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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