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Algal biofilm ponds for polishing secondary effluent and resource recovery

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Abstract

In order to reduce the cost of microalgae harvesting, biofilm algal cultivations have received attention as a potential platform for algal biomass production and wastewater treatment. Two 50-L ponds containing vertically oriented geotextiles, cotton textiles, and polyethylene sheets were fed secondary effluent to examine the growth of algal biofilms. The removal of total phosphorus, PO43−-P and NO3−-N ranged from 52 to 97%, 59 to 93%, and 0 to 99%, respectively. The highest biomass productivity was 1.4 and 0.5 g m−2 day−1, and the lipid content of the attached biomass was quite low, 0.36 and 0.48%, in the cotton textile and polyethylene-baffled pond, respectively. The lipid content of the suspended biomass of the cotton textile and polyethylene pond was very low and similar (0.5%), but it increased to 13.8 and 3.4%, respectively, after a starvation period of 13 days.

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  1. Environmental Engineering Laboratory, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Patras, 265 04, Patras, Greece

    Alexios G. Orfanos & Ioannis D. Manariotis

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  1. Alexios G. Orfanos
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  2. Ioannis D. Manariotis
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Correspondence to Ioannis D. Manariotis.

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Orfanos, A.G., Manariotis, I.D. Algal biofilm ponds for polishing secondary effluent and resource recovery. J Appl Phycol 31, 1765–1772 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-018-1731-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-018-1731-8

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