Algae-based biofilm productivity utilizing dairy wastewater: effects of temperature and organic carbon concentration

BACKGROUND Biofilm-based microalgal growth was determined as functions of organic chemical loading and water temperature utilizing dairy wastewater from a full-scale dairy farm. The dairy industry is a significant source of wastewater worldwide that could provide an inexpensive and nutrient rich feedstock for the cultivation of algae biomass for use in downstream processing of animal feed and aquaculture applications. Algal biomass was cultivated using a Rotating Algal Biofilm Reactor (RABR) system. The RABR is a biofilm-based technology that has been designed and used to remediate municipal wastewater and was applied to treat dairy wastewater through nutrient uptake, and simultaneously provide biomass for the production of renewable bioproducts. RESULTS Aerial algal biofilm growth rates in dairy wastewater at 7 and 27 °C temperatures were shown to be 4.55 ± 0.17 g/m2-day and 7.57 ± 1.12 g/m2-day ash free dry weight (AFDW), respectively. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) calculations indicated that both an increase in temperature of the wastewater and an increase in the level of organic carbon, from 300 to 1200 mg L-1, contributed significantly to an increase in the rate of biomass growth in the system. However, ANOVA results indicated that the interaction of temperature and organic carbon content was not significantly related to the biofilm-based growth rate. CONCLUSION A microalgae-based biofilm reactor was successfully used to treat turbid dairy wastewater. Temperature and organic carbon concentration had a statistically significant effect on algae-based biofilm productivity and treatment of dairy wastewater. The relationships between temperature, TOC, and productivity developed in this study may be used in the design and assessment of wastewater remediation systems and biomass production systems utilizing algae-based biofilm reactors for treating dairy wastes.