Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A new model of Algal Turf Scrubber for bioremediation and biomass production using seaweed aquaculture principles

  • Published:
Journal of Applied Phycology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

An increase in the use of macroalgal biomass for different applications is required in development of efficient cultivation systems and low-cost culture media. With this in mind, the present work proposes modifications to the Algal Turf Scrubber (ATS) system inducing the establishment of a monospecific culture of Ulva ohnoi through a seeding process, speeding up the maturation time and increasing efficiency and productivity. Bench-scale units of Seeded Algal Turf Scrubber (sATS) were built to test different types of algal attachment substrates (nylon and jute fiber) and water flow conditions (stagnant and continuous) besides evaluating of coverage rate, daily growth rate, and nutrient removal capacity. The results were promising. The coverage rate by U. ohnoi seedlings was higher when nylon substrate was combined with continuous water flow (74.41 ± 6.79%). Changes in nutrient concentration demonstrated a dose-dependent pattern with complete removal of P-PO43− in 24 h at all concentrations tested when the system had 18 days of maturation and N-NH4+ was completely removed in 24 h at all concentrations tested in both maturation times (18 and 47 days). Daily growth rates presented satisfactory values, reaching maximum of 4.8 ± 0.6% day−1. In conclusion, it was demonstrated that the bench-scale sATS system was successful to enable cultivation of U. ohnoi by seeding, resulting in good quality biomass production and efficient nutrient removal, thus justifying upscale experiments.

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
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adey WH, Loveland K (2007) Dynamic Aquaria. Elsevier, Washington, D.C.

    Google Scholar 

  • Adey WH, Luckett C, Smith M (1996) Purification of industrially contaminated groundwaters using controlled ecosystems. Ecol Eng 7:191–212

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Agrawal SC (2009) Factors affecting spore germination in algae - review. Folia Microbiol 54:273–302

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ale MT, Mikkelsen JD, Meyer AS (2011) Differential growth response of Ulva lactuca to ammonium and nitrate assimilation. J Appl Phycol 23:345–351

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Angell AR, Mata L, de Nys R, Paul NA (2014) Variation in amino acid content and its relationship to nitrogen content and growth rate in Ulva ohnoi (Chlorophyta). J Phycol 50:216–226

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Barr N, Kloeppel A, Rees T, Scherer C, Taylor RB, Wenzel A (2008) Wave surge increases rates of growth and nutrient uptake in the green seaweed Ulva pertusa maintained at low bulk flow velocities. Aquat Biol 3:179–186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bastos E, Gouvêa LP, Horta PA, Rörig LR (2019a) Interaction between salinity and phosphorus availability can influence seed production of Ulva ohnoi (Chlorophyta, Ulvales). Environ Exp Bot 167:103860

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bastos E, Schneider M, de Quadros DPC, Welz B, Batista MB, Horta PA, Rörig LR, Barufi JB (2019b) Phytoremediation potential of Ulva ohnoi (Chlorophyta): Influence of temperature and salinity on the uptake efficiency and toxicity of cadmium. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 174:334–343

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bolton JJ, Robertson-Andersson DV, Shuuluka D, Kandjengo L (2009) Growing Ulva (Chlorophyta) in integrated systems as a commercial crop for abalone feed in South Africa: a SWOT analysis. J Appl Phycol 21:575–583

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Callow ME, Callow JA, Ista LK, Coleman SE, Nolasco AC, López GP (2000) Use of self-assembled monolayers of different wettabilities to study surface selection and primary adhesion processes of green algal (Enteromorpha) zoospores. Appl Environ Microbiol 66:3249–3254

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Castelar B, Reis RP, dos Santos Calheiros AC (2014) Ulva lactuca and U. flexuosa (Chlorophyta, Ulvophyceae) cultivation in Brazilian tropical waters: recruitment, growth, and ulvan yield. J Appl Phycol 26:1989–1999

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen I, Neori A (1991) Ulva lactuca biofilters for marine fishpond effluents. I. Ammonia uptake kinetics and nitrogen content. Bot Mar 34:475–482

  • Craggs RJ, Adey WH, Jessup BK, Oswald WJ (1996) A controlled stream mesocosm for tertiary treatment of sewage. Ecol Eng 6:149–169

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • FAO (2020) The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2020. FAO, Rome

    Google Scholar 

  • Figueira TA, da Silva AJR, Enrich-Prast A, Yoneshigue-Valentin Y, de Oliveira VP (2020) Structural characterization of ulvan polysaccharide from cultivated and collected Ulva fasciata (Chlorophyta). Adv Biosci Biotechnol 11:206–216

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Froehlich HE, Afflerbach JC, Frazier M, Halpern BS (2019) blue growth potential to mitigate climate change through seaweed offsetting. Curr Biol 29:3087–3093

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Geng H, Yan T, Zhou M, Liu Q (2015) Comparative study of the germination of Ulva prolifera gametes on various substrates. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 163:89–95

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glasson CRK, Sims IM, Carnachan SM, de Nys R, Magnusson M (2017) A cascading biorefinery process targeting sulfated polysaccharides (ulvan) from Ulva ohnoi. Algal Res 27:383–391

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gouvêa LP, Assis J, Gurgel CFD, Serrão EA, Silveira TCL, Santos R, Duarte CM, Peres LMC, Carvalho VF, Batista M, Bastos E, Sissini MN, Horta PA (2020) Golden carbon of Sargassum forests revealed as an opportunity for climate change mitigation. Sci Total Environ 729:138745

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Grasshoff K, Ehrhardt M, Kremling K (1983) Methods of seawater analysis, 2nd edn. Weinheim, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Hafting JT, Critchley AT, Cornish ML, Hubley SA, Archibald AF (2012) On-land cultivation of functional seaweed products for human usage. J Appl Phycol 24:385–392

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hernández I, Martínez-Aragon JF, Tovar A, Pérez-Lloréns JL, Vergara JJ (2002) Biofiltering efficiency in removal of dissolved nutrients by the three species of estuarine macroalgae with sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) waste waters 2. Ammonium. J Appl Phycol 14:375–384

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim JK, Yarish C, Hwang EK, Park M, Kim Y (2017) Seaweed aquaculture: cultivation technologies, challenges and its ecosystem services. Algae 32:1–13

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Koch EW (1993) The effect of water flow on photosynthetic processes of the alga Ulva lactuca L. Hydrobiologia 260–261:457–462

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lawton RJ, Mata L, de Nys R, Paul NA (2013) algal bioremediation of waste waters from land-based aquaculture using Ulva: selecting target species and strains. PLoS One 8:e77344

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Li H, Zhang Y, Han X, Shi X, Rivkin RB, Legendre L (2016) Growth responses of Ulva prolifera to inorganic and organic nutrients: implications for macroalgal blooms in the southern Yellow Sea, China. Sci Rep 6:26498

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Magnusson M, Mata L, de Nys R, Paul NA (2014) Biomass, lipid and fatty acid production in large-scale cultures of the marine macroalga Derbesia tenuissima (Chlorophyta). Mar Biotechnol 16:456–464

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Marinho-Soriano E, Morales C, Moreira WSC (2002) Cultivation of Gracilaria (Rhodophyta) in shrimp pond effluents in Brazil. Aquac Res 33:1081–1086

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mata L, Magnusson M, Paul NA, de Nys R (2016) The intensive land-based production of the green seaweeds Derbesia tenuissima and Ulva ohnoi: biomass and bioproducts. J Appl Phycol 28:365–375

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McHugh DJ (2003) A guide to the seaweed industry. FAO, Rome

    Google Scholar 

  • Msuya FE, Neori A (2008) Effect of water aeration and nutrient load level on biomass yield, N uptake and protein content of the seaweed Ulva lactuca cultured in seawater tanks. J Appl Phycol 20:1021–1031

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mulbry WW, Wilkie AC (2001) Growth of benthic freshwater algae on dairy manures. J Appl Phycol 13:301–306

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neori A, Bronfman Y, van Rijn J, Guttman L, Krupnik N, Shpigel M, Samocha TM, Davis DA, Qiu X, Abelin P, Israel Á (2020) The suitability of Ulva fasciata, Ulva compressa, and Hypnea musciformis for production in an outdoor spray cultivation system, with respect to biomass yield and protein content. J Appl Phycol 32:3183–3197

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Noemí Gil M, Ladran Torres A, Luis Esteves J (2005) Uptake of sewage derived nitrogen by Ulva rigida (Chlorophyceae) in Bahía Nueva (Golfo Nuevo, Patagonia, Argentine). Hydrobiologia 532:39–43

  • Ray NE, Terlizzi DE, Kangas PC (2015) Nitrogen and phosphorus removal by the Algal Turf Scrubber at an oyster aquaculture facility. Ecol Eng 78:27–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rorrer GL, Modrell J, Zhi C, Yoo H-D, Nagle DN, Gerwick WH (1995) Bioreactor seaweed cell culture for production of bioactive oxylipins. J Appl Phycol 187–198. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00693067

  • Samanta AK, Mukhopadhyay A, Ghosh SK (2020) Processing of jute fibres and its applications. In: Kozlowski R, Mackiewicz-Talarczyk M (eds) Handbook of Natural Fibres, 2nd edn. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 49–120

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Shpigel M, Guttman L, Ben-Ezra D, Yu J, Chen S (2019) Is Ulva sp. able to be an efficient biofilter for mariculture effluents? J Appl Phycol 31:2449–2459

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Smit AJ, Robertson BL, Du Preez DR (1996) Influence of ammonium-N pulse concentrations and frequency, tank condition and nitrogen starvation on growth rate and biochemical composition of Gracilaria gracilis. J Appl Phycol 8:473–481

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sode S, Bruhn A, Balsby TJS, Larsen MM, Gotfredsen A, Rasmussen MB (2013) Bioremediation of reject water from anaerobically digested waste water sludge with macroalgae (Ulva lactuca, Chlorophyta). Bioresour Technol 146:426–435

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Strickland JDH, Parsons TR (1972) A practical handbook of seawater analysis. Fisheries Research Board of Canada, Ottawa

    Google Scholar 

  • Tanna B, Mishra A (2019) Nutraceutical potential of seaweed polysaccharides: structure, bioactivity, safety, and toxicity. Compr Rev Food Sci Food Saf 18:817–831

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Titlyanov EA, Titlyanova TV (2010) Seaweed cultivation: methods and problems. Russ J Mar Biol 36:227–242

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsagkamilis P, Danielidis D, Dring MJ, Katsaros C (2010) Removal of phosphate by the green seaweed Ulva lactuca in a small-scale sewage treatment plant (Ios Island, Aegean Sea, Greece). J Appl Phycol 22:331–339

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vairappan CS (2006) Seasonal occurrences of epiphytic algae on the commercially cultivated red alga Kappaphycus alvarezii (Solieriaceae, Gigartinales, Rhodophyta). J Appl Phycol 18:611–617

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang J, Li X, Zhang C (2019) Recent advances on bioactivity of seaweed polysaccharides. Med Res 3:200003

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We sincerely thank the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), especially the faculty members and technical staff of the Laboratory of Phycology (LAFIC), Multi-User Laboratory for Biological Studies (LAMEB), and Marine Mollusks Laboratory (LMM) for providing space and resources for this work. Financial resources and scholarships were provided by the Coordination of Superior Level Staff Improvement (CAPES), National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), and Santa Catarina State Foundation for Research and Innovation Support (FAPESC). We also thank Samara Dumong Fadigas, Thais Favero Massocato, Luana Aimi, Carolina Mueller, and Melissa dos Santos for their support and assistance in carrying out experiments and data collection. This study is part of the MSc. dissertation of the first author to the UFSC Graduate Program in Oceanography, Santa Catarina, Brazil. Bastos thank Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) for the Postdoctoral fellowship (process nos. 151637/2020-2).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Programa de Pós-graduação em Oceanografia, Centro de Ciências Físicas e Matemáticas, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Campus Trindade, Florianópolis, 88040-900, Brazil

    Kely Paula Salvi & Leonardo Rubi Rörig

  2. Laboratório de Ficologia, Departamento de Botânica, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Campus Trindade, Florianópolis, 88040-900, Brazil

    Kely Paula Salvi, Willian da Silva Oliveira, Paulo Antunes Horta, Leonardo Rubi Rörig & Eduardo de Oliveira Bastos

  3. Laboratório Multiusuário de Estudo em Biologia (LAMEB/Botânica), Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Campus Trindade, Florianópolis, 88040-900, Brazil

    Willian da Silva Oliveira

Authors
  1. Kely Paula Salvi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Willian da Silva Oliveira
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Paulo Antunes Horta
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Leonardo Rubi Rörig
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Eduardo de Oliveira Bastos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eduardo de Oliveira Bastos.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

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

Supplementary Information

ESM 1

(DOCX 381 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Salvi, K.P., da Silva Oliveira, W., Horta, P.A. et al. A new model of Algal Turf Scrubber for bioremediation and biomass production using seaweed aquaculture principles. J Appl Phycol 33, 2577–2586 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-021-02430-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-021-02430-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation