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Efficient microalgae removal from aqueous medium through auto-flocculation: investigating growth-dependent role of organic matter

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Abstract

This study investigated the growth-dependent role of algal organic matters (AOMs) to achieve high removal efficiency (R.E) of microalgae. The results showed that the microalgae cells produced 96 ± 2% of total AOMs as loose bound AOMSS (LB-AOMs) and 4 ± 1% as cell-bound (CB-AOMs) in exponential phase. In stationary phase, LB-AOMs and CB-AOMs were 46 ± 0.7percentage and 54 ± 0.2 percentage, respectively. The R.Es in exponential and stationary phase were 83 ± 2.6% and 66 ± 1.2%, respectively. It is found that the difference of biomass concentration (between exponential and stationary phase) had no significant impact on the R.E (P > 0.01). Further investigations revealed that LB-AOMs inhibit flocculation in exponential and CB-AOMs in stationary phase; however, CB-AOMs showed stronger inhibition than the LB-AOMs (P < 0.01). The provision of calcium (17 ± 0.9 mg/L) to the culture reduced the AOMs inhibition and improved the R.E from 66 ± 1.2% (in control) to 90 ± 4.2%. An increase in R.E was attributed to the interaction of calcium with AOMs and subsequently acting as a flocculant. The findings of this study can be valuable to improve the performance of auto-flocculation technology, which is mainly limited by the presence of AOMs.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Advanced Biomass R&D Center (ABC) of the Global Frontier Project, funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (ABC-2010-0029728).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Advanced Biomass R&D Center, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), 291- Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea

    Naim Rashid, Manoranjan Nayak, William I. Suh, Bongsoo Lee & Yong-Keun Chang

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, COMSATS University Islamabad, Lahore Campus, Lahore, Pakistan

    Naim Rashid

  3. Department of Microbial and Nano Materials, College of Science and Technology, Mokwon University, 88 Doanbuk-ro, Seo-gu, Daejeon, 35349, Republic of Korea

    Bongsoo Lee

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  1. Naim Rashid
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  2. Manoranjan Nayak
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Correspondence to Bongsoo Lee or Yong-Keun Chang.

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Highlights

• Organic matter (OM) modulate microalgae dewatering

• Cell-bound OM increased from 4% in exponential phase to 54% in stationary phase

• Removal efficiency (R.E) was 83% in exponential and 66% in stationary phase

• Cell-bound OM was major cause of low R.E

• R.E increased from 66% (control) to 90% by manipulating calcium and OM interaction

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Rashid, N., Nayak, M., Suh, W.I. et al. Efficient microalgae removal from aqueous medium through auto-flocculation: investigating growth-dependent role of organic matter. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26, 27396–27406 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-05904-6

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