Improving microalgal tolerance to high ammonia with simple organic carbon addition for more effective wastewater treatment

Sutherland, DL

Improving microalgal tolerance to high ammonia with simple organic carbon addition for more effective wastewater treatment

Sutherland, DL

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Publisher:: Elsevier
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Journal of Water Process Engineering, 2022, 47, pp. 102667
Issue Date:: 2022-06-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Sutherland, DL
dc.date.accessioned	2023-07-02T23:54:41Z
dc.date.available	2023-07-02T23:54:41Z
dc.date.issued	2022-06-01
dc.identifier.citation	Journal of Water Process Engineering, 2022, 47, pp. 102667
dc.identifier.issn	2214-7144
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/171114
dc.description.abstract	Due to ammonia toxicity in microalgal treatment systems, wastewaters with excessive ammonia require pre-treatment, either dilution or chemical stripping, but this can be costly. Alternatively, the addition of organic carbon may help to alleviate toxicity. This study investigated effects of glucose addition on toxicity in three microalgal species. Glucose reduced toxicity at ammonia concentrations from 50 to 1000 mg L−1, in all species. Growth rate, cell count and biovolume significantly increased (p < 0.01) with glucose, at all ammonia concentrations. Carbon to nitrogen ratio (C:N) was important for maximising tolerance, varying with species, ammonia concentration and parameter measured. For Chlorella sorokiniana, the highest total biovolume yield (2.3 × 104 ± 1.3 × 103 μm−3 mL−1) was achieved at 25 mg L−1 and C:N = 5, for Coelastrum sp., (1.0 × 104 ± 0.8 × 103 μm−3 mL−1) it was achieved at 750 mg L−1 and C:N = 9, and for Desmodesmus communis (6.9 × 107 ± 5.2 × 106 μm−3 mL−1) it was achieved at 1000 mg L−1 and C:N = 5. When grown on food-waste centrate, effective quantum yield, light absorption, growth rate, biomass yield and nutrient removal were all inhibited at concentrations between 100 and 500 mg L−1. However, the addition of glucose at C:N = 1, or 5, alleviated ammonia toxicity, resulting in significantly higher (p < 0.01) biomass and nutrient removal. The simple addition of glucose was effective at reducing ammonia toxicity and improving microalgal wastewater treatment in both defined medium and centrate at lab-scale. Further research is needed to assess effectiveness at scale for improved wastewater treatment.
dc.language	en
dc.publisher	Elsevier
dc.relation.ispartof	Journal of Water Process Engineering
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1016/j.jwpe.2022.102667
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess
dc.subject	0905 Civil Engineering, 0907 Environmental Engineering
dc.title	Improving microalgal tolerance to high ammonia with simple organic carbon addition for more effective wastewater treatment
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	47
utslib.for	0905 Civil Engineering
utslib.for	0907 Environmental Engineering
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - C3 - Climate Change Cluster
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access	*
dc.date.updated	2023-07-02T23:54:39Z
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	47

Abstract:

Due to ammonia toxicity in microalgal treatment systems, wastewaters with excessive ammonia require pre-treatment, either dilution or chemical stripping, but this can be costly. Alternatively, the addition of organic carbon may help to alleviate toxicity. This study investigated effects of glucose addition on toxicity in three microalgal species. Glucose reduced toxicity at ammonia concentrations from 50 to 1000 mg L−1, in all species. Growth rate, cell count and biovolume significantly increased (p < 0.01) with glucose, at all ammonia concentrations. Carbon to nitrogen ratio (C:N) was important for maximising tolerance, varying with species, ammonia concentration and parameter measured. For Chlorella sorokiniana, the highest total biovolume yield (2.3 × 104 ± 1.3 × 103 μm−3 mL−1) was achieved at 25 mg L−1 and C:N = 5, for Coelastrum sp., (1.0 × 104 ± 0.8 × 103 μm−3 mL−1) it was achieved at 750 mg L−1 and C:N = 9, and for Desmodesmus communis (6.9 × 107 ± 5.2 × 106 μm−3 mL−1) it was achieved at 1000 mg L−1 and C:N = 5. When grown on food-waste centrate, effective quantum yield, light absorption, growth rate, biomass yield and nutrient removal were all inhibited at concentrations between 100 and 500 mg L−1. However, the addition of glucose at C:N = 1, or 5, alleviated ammonia toxicity, resulting in significantly higher (p < 0.01) biomass and nutrient removal. The simple addition of glucose was effective at reducing ammonia toxicity and improving microalgal wastewater treatment in both defined medium and centrate at lab-scale. Further research is needed to assess effectiveness at scale for improved wastewater treatment.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/171114