Phycoremediation potential of Chlorella minutissima on primary and tertiary treated wastewater for nutrient removal and biodiesel production

Abstract

The integrated approach of wastewater treatment and microalgal biodiesel production based on phycoremediation is a promising process. The experiment was set up to study the phycoremediation potential of Chlorella minutissima to remove the pollution load from primary treated IARI’s (Indian Agricultural Research Institute) wastewater and tertiary treated CETP (Common Effluent Treatment Plant) wastewater and evaluation of biomass for biodiesel after harvesting. The physical and chemical parameters of wastewater quality such as nitrate, phosphate, potassium, EC, TDS, BOD, COD, etc., were studied. C. minutissima removed about 90–98% TDS, 70–80% N, 60–70% P and 45–50% K from the wastewater within 12 days. The level of BOD and COD were reduced by 60 and 75%, respectively. The algal biomasses were harvested for biodiesel extraction. The highest specific lipid productivity for CETP and IARI wastewater was 0.171 and 0.132g-lipidsg-cell−1day−1, respectively. The oleic acid had increased 59.6% in CETP wastewater in comparison to IARI wastewater. The results of this study concluded that algal strain C. minutissima is not only a means for remediation of pollutant load, but it can also be used as potential driving force for biodiesel production.