Macroalgae culture to treat anaerobic digestion piggery effluent (ADPE)

Emeka Godfrey Nwoba; Navid Reza Moheimani; Benjamin Ewa Ubi; James Chukwuma Ogbonna; Ashiwin Vadiveloo; John R Pluske; John Marinus Huisman

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2016.12.044

Macroalgae culture to treat anaerobic digestion piggery effluent (ADPE)

Bioresour Technol. 2017 Mar:227:15-23. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2016.12.044. Epub 2016 Dec 16.

Authors

Emeka Godfrey Nwoba¹, Navid Reza Moheimani², Benjamin Ewa Ubi³, James Chukwuma Ogbonna⁴, Ashiwin Vadiveloo⁵, John R Pluske⁶, John Marinus Huisman⁷

Affiliations

¹ Algae R&D Centre, School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, Western Australia 6150, Australia; Department of Biotechnology, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Nigeria.
² Algae R&D Centre, School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, Western Australia 6150, Australia. Electronic address: n.moheimani@murdoch.edu.au.
³ Department of Biotechnology, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Nigeria.
⁴ Department of Microbiology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria.
⁵ Algae R&D Centre, School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, Western Australia 6150, Australia.
⁶ School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, Western Australia 6150, Australia.
⁷ Western Australian Herbarium, Science Division, Department of Parks and Wildlife, Locked Bag 104, Bentley Delivery Centre, Western Australia 6983, Australia.

PMID: 28012374
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2016.12.044

Abstract

Environmental consequences of high productivity piggeries are significant and can result in negative environmental impacts, hence bioremediation techniques (in particular using macroalgae) are therefore of great interest. Here, the growth potential of several freshwater macroalgae in anaerobic digestion piggery effluent (ADPE), their nutrient removal rates and biochemical composition of the biomass were investigated under outdoor climatic conditions. A consortium of two macroalgae, Rhizoclonium sp. and Ulothrix sp. was isolated and could efficiently grow in the ADPE. Maximum ammonium removal rate (30.6±6.50mg NH₄⁺-NL^-1d^-1) was achieved at ADPE concentration equivalent to 248mgNH₄⁺-NL^-1. Mean biomass productivity of 31.1±1.14g ash-free dry weight (AFDW) m^-2d^-1 was achieved. Total carbohydrate and protein contents ranged between 42.8-54.8 and 43.4-45.0% AFDW, respectively, while total lipid content was very low. The study indicates the potential use of this macroalgal consortium for treating ADPE as well as source of animal feed production.

Keywords: Bioenergy; Phytoremediation; Productivity; Rhizoclonium; Ulothrix.

MeSH terms

Animal Husbandry / methods
Animals
Biodegradation, Environmental*
Biomass
Chlorophyta / metabolism
Seaweed / growth & development*
Seaweed / metabolism
Swine
Waste Disposal, Fluid / methods*