Impact of wastewater characteristics on the removal of organic micropollutants by Chlorella sorokiniana

Kaiyi Wu, Merve Atasoy, Hans Zweers, Huub Rijnaarts, Alette Langenhoff, Tânia V. Fernandes* (Corresponding author)

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal/periodicalArticleScientificpeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Microalgae-based technologies can be used for the removal of organic micropollutants (OMPs) from different types of wastewater. However, the effect of wastewater characteristics on the removal is still poorly understood. In this study, the removal of sixteen OMPs by Chlorella sorokiniana, cultivated in three types of wastewater (anaerobically digested black water (AnBW), municipal wastewater (MW), and secondary clarified effluent (SCE)), were assessed. During batch operational mode, eleven OMPs were removed from AnBW and MW. When switching from batch to continuous mode (0.8 d HRT), the removal of most OMPs from AnBW and MW decreased, suggesting that a longer retention time enhances the removal of some OMPs. Most OMPs were not removed from SCE since poor nutrient availability limited C. sorokiniana growth. Further correlation analyses between wastewater characteristics, biomass and OMPs removal indicated that the wastewater soluble COD and biomass concentration predominantly affected the removal of OMPs. Lastly, carbon uptake rate had a higher effect on the removal of OMPs than nitrogen and phosphate uptake rate. These data will give an insight on the implementation of microalgae-based technologies for the removal of OMPs in wastewater with varying strengths and nutrient availability.
Original languageEnglish
Article number131451
JournalJournal of Hazardous Materials
Volume453
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 01 Jul 2023

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