Highly effective removal of presence of toxic metal concentrations in the wastewater using microalgae and pre-treatment processing

Abstract

Cultivation of the microalgae in the wastewater has gained profound interest in recent years owing to the significant advantages like removal of nutrients from the wastewater. In general, the growth of the microalgae Coelastrella sp. on the swine wastewater is effective despite the presence of pollutants. The current study discusses the removal of concentration of nitrate, ammonia and phosphorous in the wastewater. Further, the biomass productivity and lipid content of Coelastrella sp. were also determined. Based on the procured results, the concentrations of the total phosphorus and ammonia nitrogen were decreased with the culturing duration. On the other hand, the copper oxide recorded the spike pattern along the cultured time. In contrast with the content of the ammonia and copper inhibiting the growth of the Coelastrella sp., with regard to the biomass and lipid productivity rate, the pre-treated wastewater reported superior growth rate of microalgae then untreated water. Aeration pre-treatment reduced the ammonia and copper contents in the wastewater which enable the impressive growth rate. The obtained average biomass and lipid productivity were 81.5 mg/ld and 19.5 mg/ld, respectively.