Removal of Nutrients and COD in Wastewater from Vietnamese Piggery Farm by the Culture of <i>Chlorella vulgaris</i> in a Pilot-Scaled Membrane Photobioreactor
Minh Tuan Nguyen,
Thao Phuong Nguyen,
Tung Huu Pham,
Thuy Thi Duong,
Manh Van Do,
Tuyen Van Trinh,
Quynh Thi Xuan Nguyen,
Viet M. Trinh
Affiliations
Minh Tuan Nguyen
Institute of Environmental Technology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet, Cau Giay Dist., Hanoi 100000, Vietnam
Thao Phuong Nguyen
Institute of Environmental Technology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet, Cau Giay Dist., Hanoi 100000, Vietnam
Tung Huu Pham
Institute of Environmental Technology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet, Cau Giay Dist., Hanoi 100000, Vietnam
Thuy Thi Duong
Institute of Environmental Technology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet, Cau Giay Dist., Hanoi 100000, Vietnam
Manh Van Do
Institute of Environmental Technology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet, Cau Giay Dist., Hanoi 100000, Vietnam
Tuyen Van Trinh
Institute of Environmental Technology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet, Cau Giay Dist., Hanoi 100000, Vietnam
Quynh Thi Xuan Nguyen
Institute of Environmental Engineering and Management, National Taipei of Technology, Taipei 106, Taiwan
Viet M. Trinh
Institute of Environmental Technology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet, Cau Giay Dist., Hanoi 100000, Vietnam
The treatment of nutrients and organic contaminants in wastewater using microalgae has drawn significant interest thanks to its advantages of environmental friendliness, low cost, CO2 emission reduction, and recycling of valuable biomass. Among other algae species, Chlorella sp. showed good vitality, simplicity in cultivation, and high nutrient accumulation in harsh conditions of wastewater. In this study, Chlorella vulgaris was inoculated in a membrane photobioreactor (MPBR) with piggery digestate to investigate the C. vulgaris growth rate and the removal efficiency of nutrients and chemical oxygen demand (COD). The results indicated that the cultivation of C. vulgaris in an MPBR system exhibited continuous and simultaneous removal of NH4+, PO43−, and COD from two-fold diluted piggery wastewater. Both the algae growth rate and nutrient removal depended on the liquid hydraulic retention time in the MPBR. The highest removal efficiency of NH4+ (74.55%), PO43− (70.20%), and COD (65.85%) was obtained in the longest HRT of 5 days with the highest microalgae biomass concentration of around 1.1 g/L. The algae washout phenomenon was negligible in the continuous cultivation in the MPBR system. Compared to the cultivation in batch mode, the MPBR could achieve a similar algae growth rate and treatment efficiency with a much shorter hydraulic retention time.
