Microalgal nutrient removal and biodiesel production potential in industrial wastewater: The case of dairy industry

The use of microalgal wastewater treatment technologies for agricultural and industrial wastewater has shown to be a sustainable alternative to conventional treatment systems. In addition, the biomass obtained from microalgae also has been recently considered as a renewable source of biofuel. The aim of this study is to investigate the nutrient removal and biomass production efficiency of Chlorella vulgaris cultivated in dairy wastewater. Wastewater used in this research was taken from a dairy industry facility located in Adana province. The results showed that by the end of a 10-day batch culture, Chlorella vulgaris could remove total nitrogen and total phosphorus by 95.3% and 92.7% respectively and maximum biomass productivity of 74 mg dry-weight/L/day was achieved to at second day of growth. The results of the study indicated that Chlorella vulgaris effectively removed nutrients from dairy effluent. Dairy wastewater has great potential to cultivate microalgae for biomass and biodiesel production in a sustainable manner.