PJB-2023-347
Exploring the Potential of Chlorella vulgaris and Tetraselmis chuii to Produce Sustainable Biofuel via Dairy Industry Wastewater Phycoremediation
Syed Babar Hussain
Abstract
This study investigates the potential of Chlorella vulgaris and Tetraselmis chuii in removing toxicants from dairy wastewater (DWW), specifically focusing on their growth, lipid yield, and bioremediation capabilities. The study investigated the impact of different concentrations of filtered and centrifuged dairy wastewater (DWW), as an alternate media for microalgal growth, bioremediation, lipid and fatty acid accumulation. The results showed that C. vulgaris exhibited higher growth rate with lipid accumulation at a 75% concentration of DWW, while T. chuii demonstrated greater cell growth and lipid content at a 100% concentration. Maximum specific growth rates (0.27 d-1 – 0.16 d-1) and maximum specific biomass formation rates (0.15 gL-1 d-1 and 0.13 gL-1 d-1) were observed after 16 days of cultivation, along with lipid contents of 36.18 ± 1.65% & 33.09 ± 0.80% for C. vulgaris and T. chuii, respectively. Microalgal cells were significantly improved in response to dairy industry wastewater (DWW) feeding, reducing the COD levels (74.74 – 66.17 %), BOD (62.89 – 70.83 %), TN (53.70 – 40.74 %) and certain heavy metals like zinc (95.3 – 96.34%) manganese (81.38 – 84.9%) nickel (91.46 – 63.48), NO3N (47.05 – 50%) ferric (22.72 – 88.66%) cadmium (86.01 – 64.98 %) lead (88.45 – 95.83) and arsenic (57.28 – 43.28%) were efficiently removed from DWW at different diluted concentrations by C. vulgaris and T. chuii respectively. The FAME analysis revealed that the lipid profiles of both species primarily consisted of fatty acids, namely C18:0 and C18:1. This observation suggests a promising potential for utilizing these microalgae in biodiesel production and concurrent bioremediation using dairy wastewater (DWW).
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