Modeling the Behavior of Chlorella Vulgaris Microalgae in Water Treatment: A Kinetic Approach

Year 2024, , 1 - 8, 30.06.2024

Burcu Şimşek Uygun , Serdar Göncü , Esin Buğdaycı

https://doi.org/10.47897/bilmes.1375330

Abstract

In the modern era, there has been a notable surge in environmental pollution attributable to agricultural activities, urban expansion, industrialization, and various other contributing factors. This alarming trend has also taken a toll on our water resources, exacerbated further by the contamination stemming from human consumption-related wastewater discharges. To address these concerns, biological treatment approaches have gained widespread acceptance for wastewater treatment. The utilization of microalgae as a nutrient source, facilitating the removal of organic matter from wastewater, holds a pivotal role in bolstering the sustainability of wastewater treatment. The aim of this study, to mathematically model the removal of phosphorus and nitrogen from domestic wastewater using Chlorella Vulgaris algal culture. Experimental studies were conducted in a batch reactor, and removal efficiencies of nitrate nitrogen, ammonium nitrogen, and phosphate phosphorus were examined through measurements. The results indicate that microalgae efficiently perform the removal of pollutants process. As well as usage of microalgae in water treatment processes, a good microalgae kinetic model is highly important for nutrient removal, microalgae biomass accumulation, and enhancing operational settings in wastewater treatment. Kinetic modeling is a mathematical approach used to understand how a chemical reaction or process progresses or changes over time. Such models have various applications in all fields of science. Kinetic modeling can help us predict and optimize the behavior of reactions using computer simulations and mathematical analysis. Furthermore, specific growth rates of microalgae according to nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients were compared using the Michaelis-Menten equation for growth kinetics. According to the calculations, the nitrogen-based specific growth rate (NO3--N, NH4+-N) was determined as µmax=0.053 day-1, and the phosphorus-based (PO43-) specific growth rate was determined as µmax=0.061 day-1.

Keywords

Kinetic modeling, microalgaes, Chlorella Vulgaris, specific growth rate.”

References

• [1] A. Abdelfattah et al., “Microalgae-based wastewater treatment: Mechanisms, challenges, recent advances, and future prospects,” Environmental Science and Ecotechnology, vol. 13, p. 100205, Jan. 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.ese.2022.100205.
• [2] M. Taziki, H. Ahmadzadeh, M. A. Murry, and S. R. Lyon, “Nitrate and Nitrite Removal from Wastewater using Algae,” Current Biotechnology, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 426–440, Jan. 2016, doi: 10.2174/2211550104666150828193607.
• [3] P. Srimongkol, P. Sangtanoo, P. Songserm, W. Watsuntorn, and A. Karnchanatat, “Microalgae-based wastewater treatment for developing economic and environmental sustainability: Current status and future prospects,” Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, vol. 10, Sep. 2022, doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2022.904046.
• [4] J.-L. Zhou, L. Yang, K.-X. Huang, D.-Z. Chen, and F. Gao, “Mechanisms and application of microalgae on removing emerging contaminants from wastewater: A review,” Bioresource Technology, vol. 364, pp. 128049–128049, Nov. 2022, doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2022.128049.
• [5] L. Delgadillo-Mirquez, F. Lopes, B. Taidi, and D. Pareau, “Nitrogen and phosphate removal from wastewater with a mixed microalgae and bacteria culture,” Biotechnology Reports, vol. 11, pp. 18–26, Sep. 2016, doi: 10.1016/j.btre.2016.04.003.
• [6] S. Rasoul-Amini et al., “Removal of nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater using microalgae free cells in bath culture system,” Biocatalysis and Agricultural Biotechnology, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 126–131, Apr. 2014, doi: 10.1016/j.bcab.2013.09.003.
• [7] A. L. Gonçalves, J. C. M. Pires, and M. Simões, “A review on the use of microalgal consortia for wastewater treatment,” Algal Research, vol. 24, pp. 403–415, Jun. 2017, doi: 10.1016/j.algal.2016.11.008.
• [8] S. Aslan and I. K. Kapdan, “Batch kinetics of nitrogen and phosphorus removal from synthetic wastewater by algae,” Ecological Engineering, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 64–70, Nov. 2006, doi: 10.1016/j.ecoleng.2006.04.003.
• [9] M. Amini, Z. Amini Khoei, and E. Erfanifar, “Nitrate (NO3−) and phosphate (PO43−) removal from aqueous solutions by microalgae Dunaliella salina,” Biocatalysis and Agricultural Biotechnology, vol. 19, p. 101097, May 2019, doi: 10.1016/j.bcab.2019.101097.
• [10] F. Cantaş, S. Özyön, and C. Yaşar, “Runge Kutta optimization for fixed size multimodal test functions,” International Scientific and Vocational Studies Journal, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 144–155, Dec. 2022, doi: 10.47897/bilmes.1219033.
• [11] V. C. Eze, S. B. Velasquez-Orta, A. Hernández-García, I. Monje-Ramírez, and M. T. Orta-Ledesma, “Kinetic modelling of microalgae cultivation for wastewater treatment and carbon dioxide sequestration,” Algal Research, vol. 32, pp. 131–141, Jun. 2018, doi: 10.1016/j.algal.2018.03.015.
• [12] S. C. Chapra, Surface Water-Quality Modeling. United States of America: Mc Graw-Hill Companies, 1997.
• [13] E. A. O’Neill and N. J. Rowan, “Microalgae as a natural ecological bioindicator for the simple real-time monitoring of aquaculture wastewater quality including provision for assessing impact of extremes in climate variance – A comparative case study from the Republic of Ireland,” Science of The Total Environment, vol. 802, p. 149800, Jan. 2022, doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149800.
• [14] E. H. Buğdaycı, B. Şimşek Uygun, and S. Göncü, “Removal Of Nitrate And Phosphorus From Surface Water And Wastewater Using Chlorella Vulgaris Algae Culture In A Batch Reactor,” in 4th International Eurasian Conference on Science, Engineering and Technology (EurasianSciEnTech 2022), 14-16 December 2022.