The Efficiency of Green Microalgae for Treatment of Digestate
- Authors: Tilen Klemenčič, Pija Klemenčič, Miha Žitnik
- Citation: Acta hydrotechnica, vol. 30, no. 52, pp. 65-71, 2017.
- Abstract: This paper investigated the efficiency of the green microalgae species Chlorella vulgaris and a mixture of three green microalgae strains in treating digestate. A digestate was used from a biogas plant producing biogas from various organic materials such as animal skins, waste edible oils, animal by-products, and expired foodstuffs. The study took place for 14 days under laboratory conditions. The results showed that the digestate used had low amounts of nutrients and was therefore less suitable for algae growth. The green microalgae C. vulgaris has proved to be significantly more effective in the removal of nutrients from digestate than an algal mixture. In C. vulgaris samples 94% reduction in phosphates and 23% reduction in nitrates was achieved, while in the algal mixture the content of phosphates decreased only by 14%, with an increase in nitrates. The reason could be the poor condition of the mixed algal culture and inappropriate selection of algae species.
- Keywords: Chlorella vulgaris, wastewater treatment, digestate, green microalgae
- Full text: a30tk.pdf
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