Continuous Cultivation of Microalgae in Cattle Slaughterhouse Wastewater Treated with Hydrodynamic Cavitation
Ruly Terán Hilares,
Fabio P. Sánchez Vera,
Gilberto J. Colina Andrade,
Kevin Tejada Meza,
Jaime Cárdenas García,
David Alfredo Pacheco Tanaka
Affiliations
Ruly Terán Hilares
Departamento de Ciencias e Ingenierías Biológicas y Químicas, Universidad Católica de Santa María—UCSM, Urb. San José s/n—Umacollo, Arequipa 04000, Peru
Fabio P. Sánchez Vera
Departamento de Ciencias e Ingenierías Biológicas y Químicas, Universidad Católica de Santa María—UCSM, Urb. San José s/n—Umacollo, Arequipa 04000, Peru
Gilberto J. Colina Andrade
Departamento de Ciencias e Ingenierías Biológicas y Químicas, Universidad Católica de Santa María—UCSM, Urb. San José s/n—Umacollo, Arequipa 04000, Peru
Kevin Tejada Meza
Departamento de Ciencias e Ingenierías Biológicas y Químicas, Universidad Católica de Santa María—UCSM, Urb. San José s/n—Umacollo, Arequipa 04000, Peru
Jaime Cárdenas García
Departamento de Ciencias e Ingenierías Biológicas y Químicas, Universidad Católica de Santa María—UCSM, Urb. San José s/n—Umacollo, Arequipa 04000, Peru
David Alfredo Pacheco Tanaka
Departamento de Ciencias e Ingenierías Biológicas y Químicas, Universidad Católica de Santa María—UCSM, Urb. San José s/n—Umacollo, Arequipa 04000, Peru
Cattle slaughtering produce large amounts of wastewater containing high concentrations of organic matter and nutrients and requires significant treatment before disposal or reutilization. However, the nutrients contained can be valued as a medium for microalgal biomass generation. In this work, hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) followed by membrane filtration or biological (microalgae cultivation) treatment in continuous mode were performed. From cattle slaughterhouse wastewater (CSW), by the effect of HC treatment with air injection in batch mode, more than 20% of the chemical oxygen demand (COD) was removed. In a continuous HC process, the COD content in output was 324 mg O2/L, which is 68% lower than the supplied CSW. After that, 76% of residual COD was removed by filtration through a tubular alumina membrane (600 nm). Finally, 85% of residual COD after HC treatment in 24 h in a batch mode was removed by microalgae. On the other hand, the COD concentration in the output was around 59 mg O2/L in continuous mode, which represents 85–93% COD removal. The process involving HC and microalgae growing looks promising since in addition to water treatment, the microalgae produced could be valued in a biorefinery concept.