In: Ecotoxicology and environmental safety: EES ; official journal of the International Society of Ecotoxicology and Environmental safety, Band 29, Heft 3, S. 349-358
AbstractThe removal of n-alkanes, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and heavy metals from wastewater using three dried seaweeds Ulva intestinalis Linnaeus (green alga), Sargassum latifolium (Turner) C.Agardh (brown alga), and Corallina officinalis Kützing (red alga) has been shown to evaluate their potential usage as inexpensive adsorbents. Under natural environmental conditions, numerous analytical methods, including zeta potential, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), SEM, and FT-IR, are used in this study. The results showed that n-alkanes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons adsorption increased with increasing contact time for all three selected algae, with a large removal observed after 15 days, while the optimal contact time for heavy metal removal was 3 h. S. latifolium dry biomass had more potential as bioadsorbent, followed by C. officinalis and then U. intestinalis. S. latifolium attained removal percentages of 65.14%, 72.50%, and 78.92% for light n-alkanes, heavy n-alkanes, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), respectively, after 15 days. Furthermore, it achieved removal percentages of 94.14, 92.62, 89.54, 87.54, 82.76, 80.95, 77.78, 73.02, and 71.62% for Mg, Zn, Cu, Fe, Cr, Pb, Cd, Mn, and Ni, respectively, after 3 h. Carboxyl and hydroxyl from FTIR analysis took part in wastewater treatment. The zeta potentials revealed that algal cells have a negatively charged surface, and the cell surface of S. latifolium has a more negative surface charge than U. intestinalis and C. officinalis. Our study suggests that seaweeds could play an important role in wastewater treatment and thus help as an economical, effective, and ecofriendly bioremediation system for ecological health and life protection.
Abstract This study demonstrates the combination of wastewater treatment and green microalgae cultivation for the low-cost production of lipids as a feedstock for biodiesel production. Three green microalgal species were used: Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, Monoraphidium braunii, and Scenedesmus obliquus. Nutrient, heavy metals and minerals removal, biomass productivity, carbohydrate, protein, proline, lipid, and fatty acids methyl ester (FAMEs) contents besides biodiesel properties were evaluated. The results showed that all algal species were highly efficient and had the potential to reduce nitrate, ammonia, phosphate, sulfate, heavy metals (Zn2+, Cu2+, Mn2+, and Fe2+), calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium after 10 days of algal treatment compared to initial concentrations. The removal efficiency of these parameters ranged from 12 to 100%. The growth rates of M. braunii and S. obliquus cultivated in wastewater were significantly decreased compared to the control (synthetic medium). In contrast, C. reinhardtii showed the highest growth rate when cultivated in sewage water. Wastewater could decrease the soluble carbohydrates and protein content in all tested algae and increase the proline content in M. braunii and S. obliquus. In wastewater culture, M. braunii had the highest lipid productivity of 5.26 mg L−1 day−1. The fatty acid profiles of two studied species (C. reinhardtii and M. braunii) revealed their suitability as a feedstock for biodiesel production due to their high content of saturated fatty acids, representing 80.91% and 68.62% of the total fatty acid content, respectively, when cultivated in wastewater. This study indicated that wastewater could be used to modify biomass productivity, lipid productivity, and the quantity of individual fatty acids in some algae that affect biodiesel quality to achieve international biodiesel standards.