Journal
WATER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Volume 78, Issue 1, Pages 195-206Publisher
IWA PUBLISHING
DOI: 10.2166/wst.2018.259
Keywords
flat-panel; membrane photobioreactor; microalgae; outdoor; pilot plant; wastewater treatment
Funding
- Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) [CTM2011-28595-C02-01, CTM2011-28595-C02-02]
- European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)
- Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport [FPU14/05082]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
As microalgae have the ability to simultaneously remove nutrients from wastewater streams while producing valuable biomass, microalgae-based wastewater treatment is a win-win strategy. Although recent advances have been made in this field in lab conditions, the transition to outdoor conditions on an industrial scale must be further investigated. In this work an outdoor pilot-scale membrane photobioreactor plant was operated for tertiary sewage treatment. The effects of different parameters on microalgae performance were studied including: temperature, light irradiance (solar and artificial irradiance), hydraulic retention time (HRT), biomass retention time (BRT), air sparging system and influent nutrient concentration. In addition the competition between microalgae and ammonium oxidising bacteria for ammonium was also evaluated. Maximum nitrogen and phosphorus removal rates of 12.5 +/- 4.2 mgN.L-1.d(-1) and 1.5 +/- 0.4 mgP.L-1.d(-1), respectively, were achieved at a BRT of 4.5 days and HRT of 2.5 days, while a maximum biomass productivity of 78 +/- 13 mgVSS.L-1.d(-1 )(VSS: volatile suspended solids) was reached. While the results obtained so far are promising, they need to be improved to make the transition to industrial scale operations feasible.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available