Cultivation of freshwater microalgae in biodiesel wash water.

Biodiesel wash water is a contaminating industrial effluent that must be treated prior to disposal. The use of this effluent as a low-cost alternative cultivation medium for microalgae could represent a viable supplementary treatment. We cultivated 11 microalgae species with potential use for biodiesel production to assess their growth capacities in biodiesel industrial washing waters. Only Monoraphidium contortum, Ankistrodesmus sp., Chlorococcum sp., and one unidentified Chlorophyceae species grew effectively in that effluent. M. contortum showed the highest growth capacity and had the second highest fatty acid content (267.9 mg g-1 of DW), predominantly producing palmitic (20.9%), 7,10,13-hexadecatrienoic (14%), oleic (16.2%), linoleic (10.5%), and linolenic acids (23.2%). In the second phase of the experiment, the microalgae were cultivated in biodiesel wash water at 75% of its initial concentration as well as in WC (control) medium. After 21 days of cultivation, 25.8 and 7.2% of the effluent nitrate and phosphate were removed, respectively, and the chemical oxygen demand was diminished by 31.2%. These results suggest the possibility of cultivating biodiesel producing microalgae in industrial wash water effluents.

Biochemical compositions and fatty acid profiles in four species of microalgae cultivated on household sewage and agro-industrial residues.

The potential of four regional microalgae species was evaluated in relation to their cell growth and biomass production when cultured in the following alternative media: bio-composts of fruit/horticultural wastes (HB), sugarcane waste and vinasse (VB) chicken excrements (BCE), raw chicken manure (RCM), and municipal domestic sewage (MDS). The cultures were maintained under controlled conditions and their growth responses, productivities, biochemical compositions, and the ester profiles of their biomasses were compared to the results obtained in the synthetic media. The MDS and HB media demonstrated promising results for cultivation, especially of Chlorella sp., Chlamydomonas sp., and Lagerheimia longiseta, which demonstrated productivities superior to those seen when grown on the control media. The highest lipid levels were obtained with the HB medium. The data obtained demonstrated the viability of cultivating microalgae and producing biomass in alternative media prepared from MDS and HB effluents to produce biodiesel.