Nitrogen and phosphorus removal from municipal wastewater by the green alga Chlorella sp.

The potential of microalgae as a source of renewable energy based on wastewater has received increasing interest worldwide in recent decades. A freshwater microalga Chlorella sp. was investigated for its ability to remove both nitrogen and phosphorus from influent and effluent wastewaters which were diluted in four different proportions (namely, 100%, 75%, 50% and 25%). Chlorella sp. grew fastest under 50% influent and effluent wastewaters culture conditions, and showed an maximum cell density (4.25 x 10(9) ind 1(-1) for influent wastewater and 3.54 x 109 ind l(-1) for effluent wastewater), indicating the levels of nitrogen and phosphorus greatly influenced algal growth. High removal efficiency for total nitrogen (17.04-58.85%) and total phosphorus (62.43-97.08%) was achieved. Further, more than 83% NH4-N in 75%, 50%, 25% influent wastewater, 88% NOx-N in effluent wastewater and 90% PO4-P in all treatments were eliminated after 24 days of incubation. Chlorella sp. grew well when PO4-P concentration was very low, indicating that this might be not the limiting factor to algal growth. Our results suggest the potential importance of integrating nutrient removal from wastewater by microalgae cultivation as biofuel production feedstock.