Abstract
Algal bloom significantly alters the physicochemical properties of water due to drastic pH change, dissolved oxygen depletion/super-saturation, and toxicity, which lead to ecosystem destruction. To prevent this, this study evaluated the reduction performance of algal biomass by applying a non-thermal or cold plasma process. We used chlorophyll-a (chl-a), suspended solids (SS), and turbidity as indicators of the biomass. Results demonstrated that their removal efficiencies were in the ranges 88–98%, 70%–90%, and 53%–91%, respectively. Field emission scanning electron microscopy indicated how the cell wall of microalgae was destroyed by cold plasma. Also, the removal kinetics of cold plasma confirmed the enhanced removal rate constants. The estimated required times for 99% removal were 0.4–1.2 d (chl-a), 1.3–3.4 d (SS), and 1.6–6.2 d (turbidity), respectively. Overall, cold plasma could be a useful option to effectively treat pollution associated with algal bloom in surface water.
Highlights
Microalgal bloom associated with the rapid growth of numerous algae and cyanobacteria in surface water has been frequently reported in receiving water worldwide [1]
2019, 11, xwith the release of inner cell materials in the microalgae decomposition process,5which of 9 be associated is consistent with the literature [29]. These results indicate that the turbidity is not a good indicator for biomass removal assessment compared to chl-a and SS, though the cold plasma process could for biomass removal assessment compared to chl-a and SS, though the cold plasma process could effectively oxidize turbidity, eventually obtaining material degradations of up to 91.1%
This study revealed that the strong oxidizing power from reactive chemicals produced by cold plasma led to excellent microalgal removal
Summary
Microalgal bloom associated with the rapid growth of numerous algae and cyanobacteria in surface water has been frequently reported in receiving water worldwide [1]. The bloom changes the physicochemical properties and microbial communities of surface water [8] due to drastic pH change and dissolved oxygen depletion/super-saturation, leading to fish deaths, bad taste, odor-causing compounds, and toxins [9,10]. These problematic issues made by microalgal biomass have become the main removal targets in surface water [11,12]. Their specific objectives were: (1) to verify how the cold plasma effectively removes chl-a, SS, and turbidity at various initial concentrations; (2) to investigate the kinetic rate constants of the cold plasma process; (3) to find cause and effect of microalgal cell change in the cold plasma treatment; and (4) to estimate time for 99% removal based on the kinetics
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