Integrated municipal wastewater treatment and lipid accumulation by a self-flocculating/floating microalga Limnothrix sp.

Abstract

The present study evaluated the growth, self-flocculation, lipid content, and pollutants removal by Limnothrix sp. BASMWW-9 isolated from municipal wastewater treatment system and cultivated in municipal wastewater. The biomass yield and lipid content after 6 days of cultivation were 1.07 g dw/L and 27.34 %dw, respectively. In addition, its self-flocculating ability reached up to 90 % after harvesting time of 180 min. Moreover, COD,NH3-N, TN, and TP removalefficiencies were 71.65 %, 81.89 %, 74.64 %, and 80.16 %, respectively. The self-flocculation performance of Limnothrix sp. was greatly associated to its morphology and production of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), with significant positive impact of the high calcium and magnesium content in municipal wastewater. Interestingly, blue light irradiation during harvest enhanced the aggregation and floc formation as a floating biomat, which was attributed to enhanced polysaccharides production. This study provides innovative harvest method for Limnothrix sp. BASMWW-9 cultivated in wastewater using blue light for enhanced lipid recovery.