Mitigating ammonia nitrogen deficiency in dairy wastewaters for algae cultivation

Qian Lu; Wenguang Zhou; Min Min; Xiaochen Ma; Yiwei Ma; Paul Chen; Hongli Zheng; Yen T T Doan; Hui Liu; Chi Chen; Pedro E Urriola; Gerald C Shurson; Roger Ruan

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2015.11.029

Mitigating ammonia nitrogen deficiency in dairy wastewaters for algae cultivation

Bioresour Technol. 2016 Feb:201:33-40. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2015.11.029. Epub 2015 Nov 19.

Authors

Qian Lu¹, Wenguang Zhou¹, Min Min¹, Xiaochen Ma¹, Yiwei Ma¹, Paul Chen¹, Hongli Zheng², Yen T T Doan³, Hui Liu⁴, Chi Chen⁵, Pedro E Urriola⁶, Gerald C Shurson⁶, Roger Ruan⁷

Affiliations

¹ Center for Biorefining, and Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA.
² Center for Biorefining, and Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA; MOE Biomass Energy Research Center and State Key Laboratory of Food Science, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, People's Republic of China.
³ Center for Biorefining, and Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA; School of Environmental Science and Technology, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Viet Nam.
⁴ Center for Biorefining, and Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA; Department of Environment Science and Engineering, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
⁵ Center for Biorefining, and Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA; Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA.
⁶ Center for Biorefining, and Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA; Department of Animal Science, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA.
⁷ Center for Biorefining, and Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA; MOE Biomass Energy Research Center and State Key Laboratory of Food Science, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: ruanx001@umn.edu.

PMID: 26623940
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2015.11.029

Abstract

This study demonstrated that the limiting factor to algae growth on dairy wastewater was the ammonia nitrogen deficiency. Dairy wastewaters were mixed with a slaughterhouse wastewater that has much higher ammonia nitrogen content. The results showed the mixing wastewaters improved the nutrient profiles and biomass yield at low cost. Algae grown on mixed wastewaters contained high protein (55.98-66.91%) and oil content (19.10-20.81%) and can be exploited to produce animal feed and biofuel. Furthermore, algae grown on mixed wastewater significantly reduced nutrient contents remained in the wastewater after treatment. By mitigating limiting factor to algae growth on dairy wastewaters, the key issue of low biomass yield of algae grown on dairy wastewaters was resolved and the wastewater nutrient removal efficiency was significantly improved by this study.

Keywords: Biomass; Chlorella vulgaris; Dairy wastewater; Mixing; Nutrient removal.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Ammonia / metabolism*
Biofuels
Chlorophyta / growth & development
Chlorophyta / metabolism*
Culture Media / chemistry
Dairy Products*
Dairying*
Nitrogen / deficiency*
Phosphorus / metabolism
Wastewater*

Substances

Biofuels
Culture Media
Waste Water
Phosphorus
Ammonia
Nitrogen