Algae granulation for nutrients uptake and algae harvesting during wastewater treatment
Journal
Chemosphere
Journal Volume
214
Pages
55-59
Date Issued
2019
Author(s)
Abstract
To overcome the high separation cost of microalgae, natural microalgae granulation was performed in open sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) by treating synthetic wastewater. After operation for 60 days, easily settled algae granules were obtained with an average size of 0.61 mm, sludge volume index (SVI) of 125 ml/g and settling velocity of 12.2 m/h. More extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) (∼252 mg/g-VSS) were detected to excrete with a higher proteins/polysaccharides (PN/PS) ratio (∼7) for the algae granules on day 60, which are beneficial for granulation. Meanwhile, the algae granules were found to have a higher phosphorus (P) content (33.4 mg-P/g-TSS) with higher P bioavailability (91.8%) when compared to the seed algae (20.4 mg-P/g-TSS). The obtained algae granules possess great potential for P recovery and reuse.
SDGs
Type
journal article