Nitrogen Removal from Landfill Leachate by Microalgae

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Francisca C. Moreira¹  Vítor J. P. Vilar¹  Tânia F. C. V. Silva¹  Ana L. Gonçalves²  Sérgio F. L. Pereira²  José C. M. Pires² 

[1] Laboratory of Separation and Reaction Engineering—Laboratory of Catalysis and Materials (LSRE-LCM), Departamento de Engenharia Química, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal;Laboratório de Engenharia de Processos, Ambiente e Energia (LEPABE), Departamento de Engenharia Química, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal;

关键词: biomass production;    Chlorella vulgaris;    landfill leachate;    microalgae;    nutrient removal kinetics;    wastewater treatment;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijms17111926

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Landfill leachates result from the degradation of solid residues in sanitary landfills, thus presenting a high variability in terms of composition. Normally, these effluents are characterized by high ammoniacal-nitrogen (N–NH4+) concentrations, high chemical oxygen demands and low phosphorus concentrations. The development of effective treatment strategies becomes difficult, posing a serious problem to the environment. Phycoremediation appears to be a suitable alternative for the treatment of landfill leachates. In this study, the potential of Chlorella vulgaris for biomass production and nutrients (mainly nitrogen and phosphorus) removal from different compositions of a landfill leachate was evaluated. Since microalgae also require phosphorus for their growth, different loads of this nutrient were evaluated, giving the following N:P ratios: 12:1, 23:1 and 35:1. The results have shown that C. vulgaris was able to grow in the different leachate compositions assessed. However, microalgal growth was higher in the cultures presenting the lowest N–NH4+ concentration. In terms of nutrients uptake, an effective removal of N–NH4+ and phosphorus was observed in all the experiments, especially in those supplied with phosphorus. Nevertheless, N–NO3− removal was considered almost negligible. These promising results constitute important findings in the development of a bioremediation technology for the treatment of landfill leachates.

【 授权许可】

Unknown