Assessment of microalgae and nitrifiers activity in a consortium in a continuous operation and the effect of oxygen depletion
Background: Industrial wastewaters with a high content of nitrogen are a relevant environmental problem. Currently, treatments to remove nitrogen are not efficient, so is necessary to develop alternative methods. The objective of this study is to investigate a consortium of microalgae — nitrifying,...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2016-09-01
|
| Series: | Electronic Journal of Biotechnology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0717345816300781 |
| _version_ | 1818341246281711616 |
|---|---|
| author | Gustavo Vargas Andrés Donoso-Bravo Christian Vergara Gonzalo Ruiz-Filippi |
| author_facet | Gustavo Vargas Andrés Donoso-Bravo Christian Vergara Gonzalo Ruiz-Filippi |
| author_sort | Gustavo Vargas |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Industrial wastewaters with a high content of nitrogen are a relevant environmental problem. Currently, treatments to remove nitrogen are not efficient, so is necessary to develop alternative methods. The objective of this study is to investigate a consortium of microalgae — nitrifying, that due to the symbiosis between them could be an interesting alternative.
Results: In this study, it was possible to obtain a consortium of nitrifying bacteria (NB) and microalgae (MA) capable of operating with low requirements of dissolved oxygen, using aerobic sludge from wastewater treatment plants. During the operation, this consortium presents removal percentages above 98% of ammonia, even at concentrations of DO of 0.5 mg O2 L-1. It is estimated that the removal was caused both by the action of nitrifying bacteria and microalgae. It was determined that approximately 60% of the ammonia feed was oxidized to nitrate by nitrifying bacteria, while the algae assimilated 40% of the nitrogen feed at steady state. A methodology for measuring the specific activities of nitrifying bacteria and microalgae by comparing the rates in the variation inorganic nitrogen compounds was established with satisfactory results. An average specific activity of 0.05 and 0.02 g NH4+ gVSS-1 d-1 for nitrifying bacteria and microalgae was determined, respectively.
Conclusions: The consortium it can be obtained in a single continuous operation, and has a high capacity for nitrogen removal with low oxygen content. The consortium could prove to be a more economical method compared to traditional. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T15:55:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-700a16f1378547c8a1a849a81d78266e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0717-3458 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T15:55:45Z |
| publishDate | 2016-09-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Electronic Journal of Biotechnology |
| spelling | doaj.art-700a16f1378547c8a1a849a81d78266e2022-12-21T23:39:20ZengElsevierElectronic Journal of Biotechnology0717-34582016-09-0123C636810.1016/j.ejbt.2016.08.002Assessment of microalgae and nitrifiers activity in a consortium in a continuous operation and the effect of oxygen depletionGustavo Vargas0Andrés Donoso-Bravo1Christian Vergara2Gonzalo Ruiz-Filippi3Escuela de Ingeniería Bioquímica, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso (PUCV), Av. Brasil, 2085 Valparaíso, ChileEscuela de Ingeniería Bioquímica, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso (PUCV), Av. Brasil, 2085 Valparaíso, ChileDepartamento de Ingeniería Química, Universidad de la Frontera, Casilla 54-D, Temuco, ChileEscuela de Ingeniería Bioquímica, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso (PUCV), Av. Brasil, 2085 Valparaíso, ChileBackground: Industrial wastewaters with a high content of nitrogen are a relevant environmental problem. Currently, treatments to remove nitrogen are not efficient, so is necessary to develop alternative methods. The objective of this study is to investigate a consortium of microalgae — nitrifying, that due to the symbiosis between them could be an interesting alternative. Results: In this study, it was possible to obtain a consortium of nitrifying bacteria (NB) and microalgae (MA) capable of operating with low requirements of dissolved oxygen, using aerobic sludge from wastewater treatment plants. During the operation, this consortium presents removal percentages above 98% of ammonia, even at concentrations of DO of 0.5 mg O2 L-1. It is estimated that the removal was caused both by the action of nitrifying bacteria and microalgae. It was determined that approximately 60% of the ammonia feed was oxidized to nitrate by nitrifying bacteria, while the algae assimilated 40% of the nitrogen feed at steady state. A methodology for measuring the specific activities of nitrifying bacteria and microalgae by comparing the rates in the variation inorganic nitrogen compounds was established with satisfactory results. An average specific activity of 0.05 and 0.02 g NH4+ gVSS-1 d-1 for nitrifying bacteria and microalgae was determined, respectively. Conclusions: The consortium it can be obtained in a single continuous operation, and has a high capacity for nitrogen removal with low oxygen content. The consortium could prove to be a more economical method compared to traditional.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0717345816300781AmmoniumConsortium nitrifying-microalgaeOxygenRespirometry |
| spellingShingle | Gustavo Vargas Andrés Donoso-Bravo Christian Vergara Gonzalo Ruiz-Filippi Assessment of microalgae and nitrifiers activity in a consortium in a continuous operation and the effect of oxygen depletion Electronic Journal of Biotechnology Ammonium Consortium nitrifying-microalgae Oxygen Respirometry |
| title | Assessment of microalgae and nitrifiers activity in a consortium in a continuous operation and the effect of oxygen depletion |
| title_full | Assessment of microalgae and nitrifiers activity in a consortium in a continuous operation and the effect of oxygen depletion |
| title_fullStr | Assessment of microalgae and nitrifiers activity in a consortium in a continuous operation and the effect of oxygen depletion |
| title_full_unstemmed | Assessment of microalgae and nitrifiers activity in a consortium in a continuous operation and the effect of oxygen depletion |
| title_short | Assessment of microalgae and nitrifiers activity in a consortium in a continuous operation and the effect of oxygen depletion |
| title_sort | assessment of microalgae and nitrifiers activity in a consortium in a continuous operation and the effect of oxygen depletion |
| topic | Ammonium Consortium nitrifying-microalgae Oxygen Respirometry |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0717345816300781 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT gustavovargas assessmentofmicroalgaeandnitrifiersactivityinaconsortiuminacontinuousoperationandtheeffectofoxygendepletion AT andresdonosobravo assessmentofmicroalgaeandnitrifiersactivityinaconsortiuminacontinuousoperationandtheeffectofoxygendepletion AT christianvergara assessmentofmicroalgaeandnitrifiersactivityinaconsortiuminacontinuousoperationandtheeffectofoxygendepletion AT gonzaloruizfilippi assessmentofmicroalgaeandnitrifiersactivityinaconsortiuminacontinuousoperationandtheeffectofoxygendepletion |