Field test of water-net based wastewater treatment for nutrient removal and bioethanol production

Abstract

In this study, an open pond constructed in Myanmar, a region with tropical climate and favorable environmental conditions for algae growth, was considered to conduct field experiments on sewage inflow river water. The nutrient removal efficiency and productivity of Hydrodictyon reticulatum (H. reticulatum) were analyzed, and the maximum fermentation limit concentration for bioethanol production was determined. Three ponds were operated in batch mode to investigate the effect of light intensity. Photoinhibition was caused due to excessive light intensity in summer season in the region with tropical climate resulting in reduced facility efficiency in the absence of shade. For light blocking, a transparent film was found to be more effective than a translucent film. In the transparent film shading facility, the nitrogen and phosphorus removal efficiencies were maintained above 76% and 81%, respectively, and the productivity of H. reticulatum was 2.27 g m^-2 d^-1. For a raceway open pond facility shaded with transparent film, the performance was evaluated based on hydraulic retention time (HRT), and the productivity of algae was found to increase with increasing supply of nitrogen and phosphorous. Maximum biomass production of 3.21 g m^-2 d^-1 was observed with an HRT of 3 d, suggesting the possibility of long-term operation. As a result of evaluating the ethanol production based on the initial concentration of H. reticulatum, the yield of bioethanol at the initial reducing sugar content of 120 g L^-1 was 89.4%, but bioethanol production was only 8.9 g L^-1.

Keywords: Bioethanol; Full-scale plant; Nutrient removal; Photoinhibition; Water-net algae.