Consumption of the Pollutant Load of Mezcal Vinasse by Stigeoclonium nanum in Semi–Continuous Operation

Abstract

The Vinasse is a mezcal distillation byproduct that contains large amounts of contaminants, which can affect the environment. An alternative for reducing the concentration of organic and inorganic material that Vinasse contains is implementing bioprocesses with semi-continuous operation. This research evaluated Stigeoclonium nanum in a photobioreactor flat panel with a capacity of 15 L of operation with a dilution rate of 0.033 d-1(1L/ every two days) of Vinasse, quantifying growth of microalga and reduction of the high concentration of contaminants with daily determinations of photosynthetic pigments, the nitrogen of nitrates, total phosphorus, CDO, total carbohydrates and ammoniacal nitrogen. The results obtained were 143.06mg/L of total production of chlorophylls throughout the experiment, consumption percentages of nitrogen of nitrates, total phosphorus, CDO, and total carbohydrates of 59 %, 87 %, 6 %, and 23 %, respectively. The ammoniacal nitrogen does not present significant consumption, however its concentration is below 10