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The Utilization of Post-chlorinated Municipal Domestic Wastewater for Biomass and Lipid Production by Chlorella spp. Under Batch Conditions

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Abstract

South Africa has a rich microalgal biodiversity which has the potential to be used for renewable bio-fuel production in the region. Bioprospecting for oleaginous microalgae in KwaZulu Natal Province, South Africa, resulted in the establishment of a microalgal culture collection system for alternative energy research in the country. A potential hyper-lipid-producing Chlorella spp. strain was isolated, purified, and cultured in supplemented post-chlorinated wastewater for biomass and lipid production at the laboratory scale under batch mode. The microalgal strain was cultivated in different strengths of BG-11 media supplemented with wastewater from a local municipal domestic wastewater treatment plant. The Chlorella spp. was grown using ambient dissolved carbon dioxide in shake flasks under photosynthetically active radiation (±120 μmolm−2s−1). Microalgal biomass and lipid productivity were monitored at 24-h intervals in the batch mode. The microalgal biomass was analyzed by direct light microscopy and indirectly by spectrophotometry at 600 nm, and the lipids were extracted and quantified. The growth rate of the Chlorella spp. was enhanced in post-chlorinated wastewater supplemented with 5 mM NaNO3 with maximal biomass productivity. A dramatic increase in lipid yield was achieved with the post-chlorinated wastewater supplemented with 25 mM NaNO3. Low dosages of free chlorine were found to enhance microalgal growth. These findings serve as a basis for further scale-up trials using municipal wastewater as a medium for microalgal biomass and lipid production.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank EThekwini Municipality, Economic Development Unit for funding this work and Mr. Cyprian Dlamini at the Kingsburgh Wastewater Treatment Plant, Durban, for free chlorine analysis of our water samples. The authors gratefully acknowledge the National Research Foundation for the KIC travel grant to New Delhi, India, for the 7th Asia-Pacific Conference on Algal Biotechnology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Water and Wastewater Technology, Durban University of Technology, Steve Biko Campus, P.O. Box 1334, Durban, 4001, South Africa

    Taurai Mutanda, Subburammu Karthikeyan & Faizal Bux

  2. Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, 641 003,, Tamil Nadu, India

    Subburammu Karthikeyan

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  1. Taurai Mutanda
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  3. Faizal Bux
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Correspondence to Taurai Mutanda.

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Mutanda, T., Karthikeyan, S. & Bux, F. The Utilization of Post-chlorinated Municipal Domestic Wastewater for Biomass and Lipid Production by Chlorella spp. Under Batch Conditions. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 164, 1126–1138 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-011-9199-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-011-9199-x

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