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Cultivation of Chlorella vulgaris with swine wastewater and potential for algal biodiesel production

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Abstract

In this study, an alga-based simultaneous process of treating swine wastewater (SWW) and producing biodiesel was explored. Chlorella vulgaris (UTEX-265) was employed as a model species, and a SWW-based medium was prepared by dilution with tap water. Chlorella vulgaris grew well in the SWW-based medium, and at optimum dilution ratios, it exceeded the conventional culture medium in terms of biomass concentration and productivity. In eightfold diluted SWW, which supported the maximum growth, biomass productivity was 0.247 g L−1 day−1, while the productivity was merely 0.165 g L−1 day−1 in standard tris-acetate-phosphorous (TAP) algal medium. In addition, fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) productivity was greater in the SWW-based medium (0.067 versus 0.058 g L−1 day−1). This enhanced productivity resulted in more than 95 % removal of both nitrogen and phosphorous. All these show that C. vulgaris cultivation is indeed possible in a nutrient-rich wastewater with appropriate dilution, and in so doing, the wastewater can effectively be treated.

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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).

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Authors and Affiliations

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

    Kibok Nam, Hansol Lee, Sung-Woon Heo & Yong Keun Chang

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

    Yong Keun Chang

  3. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 305-701, Republic of Korea

    Jong-In Han

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  1. Kibok Nam
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  2. Hansol Lee
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Correspondence to Yong Keun Chang or Jong-In Han.

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Nam, K., Lee, H., Heo, SW. et al. Cultivation of Chlorella vulgaris with swine wastewater and potential for algal biodiesel production. J Appl Phycol 29, 1171–1178 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-016-0987-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-016-0987-0

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