• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.25 no.9
• /
• pp.1547-1554
• /
• 2015

The potential of microalgae biofuel has not been realized because of the low productivity and high costs associated with the current cultivation systems. In this study, a new low-cost and transparent attachment material was tested for cultivation of a filamentous algal strain, Stigeoclonium sp., isolated from wastewater. Initially, the different materials tested for Stigeoclonium cultivation in untreated wastewater were nylon mesh, polyethylene mesh, polypropylene bundle (PB), polycarbonate plate, and viscose rayon. Among the materials tested, PB led to a firm attachment, high biomass (53.22 g/m², dry cell weight), and total lipid yield (5.8 g/m²) with no perceivable change in FAME profile. The Stigeoclonium-dominated biofilm consisted of bacteria and extracellular polysaccharide, which helped in biofilm formation and for effective wastewater treatment (viz., removal efficiency of total nitrogen and total phosphorus corresponded to ~38% and ~90%, respectively). PB also demonstrated high yields under multilayered cultivation in a single reactor treating wastewater. Hence, this system has several advantages over traditional suspended and attached systems, with possibility of increasing areal productivity three times using Stigeoclonium sp. Therefore, multilayered attached growth algal cultivation systems seem to be the future cultivation model for large-scale biodiesel production and wastewater treatment.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.45 no.1
• /
• pp.21-33
• /
• 2012

Survey on the phytoplankton community structure and distribution in the upstream watershed of the East River was carried out during the period from May, 2008 to April, 2009. A total composition of phytoplankton included 159 taxa, consisting of 7 orders, 56 genera, 139 species, and 40 unidenfied species. Among those, the diatoms and green algae were more frequently found during the investigation than the other taxa. Cocconeis placentula, Cymbella minuta, Diatoma vulgare, Melosira varians, Navicula cryptocephala, Scenedesmus acuminatus v. acuminatus, were among the most common. The standing crops of the phytoplankton ranged from 86 cells $mL^{-1}$ to 1,467 cells $mL^{-1}$. The dominant species were Achnanthes minutissima, Asterionella formosa, Aulacoseira ambigua, Cocconeis placentula, Coelastrum microporum, Cyclotella sp., Cymbella affinis, C. minuta, C. tumida, Diatoma vulgare, Fragilaria capucina, F. construens, F. crotonensis, Gomphonema affine, G. clevei, Melosira varians, Merismopedia elegans, Navicula cryptocephala, N. pupula, Nitzschia tryblionella, Oscillatoria anna, O. limosa, O. tenuis v. tenuis, Pediastrum duplex v. reticulatum, Phormidium tenue, Scenedesmus acuminatus v. acuminatus, S. acutus v. acutus, S. ecornis v. ecornis, S. quadricauda v. quadricauda, Spirogyra sp., Stigeoclonium sp., Synedra acus, S. ulna, and Ulothrix sp. The most dominant species was Cymbella minuta. The diversity index, evenness index, and dominance index ranged from 1.58 to 3.10, 051 to 0.95, and 0.22 to 0.74, respectively. The phytoplankton community structure of upstream stations of the survey area was influenced by the effluent of the Doam Lake.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.28 no.4
• /
• pp.630-637
• /
• 2018

The high rate algal ponds (HRAP) powered and mixed by a paddlewheel have been widely used for over 50 years to culture microalgae for the production of various products. Since light incidence is limited to the surface, water depth can affect microalgal growth in HRAP. To investigate the effect of water depth on microalgal growth, a mixed microalgal culture constituting three major strains of microalgae including Chlorella sp., Scenedesmus sp., and Stigeoclonium sp. (CSS), was grown at different water depths (20, 30, and 40 cm) in the HRAP, respectively. The HRAP with 20cm of water depth had about 38% higher biomass productivity per unit area ($6.16{\pm}0.33g{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}d^{-1}$) and required lower nutrients and energy consumption than the other water depths. Specifically, the algal biomass of HRAP under 20cm of water depth had higher settleability through larger floc size (83.6% settleability within 5 min). These results indicate that water depth can affect the harvesting process as well as cultivation of microalgae. Therefore, we conclude that water depth is an important parameter in HRAP design for mass cultivation of microalgae.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.24 no.8
• /
• pp.1123-1132
• /
• 2014

This study evaluated the growth and nutrient removal ability of an indigenous algal consortium on real untreated municipal wastewater in a high rate algal pond (HRAP). The HRAP was operated semicontinuously under different hydraulic retention times (HRT: 2, 4, 6, and 8 days). The average removal efficiencies of chemical oxygen demand, and total nitrogen and phosphate of real municipal wastewater were maintained at $85.44{\pm}5.10%$, $92.74{\pm}5.82%$, and $82.85{\pm}8.63%$, respectively, in 2 day HRT. Algae dominated the consortium and showed high settling efficiency (99%), and biomass and lipid productivity of $0.50{\pm}0.03g/l/day$ and $0.103{\pm}0.0083g/l/day$ (2day HRT), respectively. Fatty acid methyl ester analysis revealed a predominance of palmitate (C16:0), palmitoleate (C16:1), linoleate (C18:2), and linolenate (C18:3). Microalgal diversity analyses determined the presence of Chlorella, Scenedesmus, and Stigeoclonium as the dominant microalgae. The algal consortium provides significant value not only in terms of energy savings and nutrient removal but also because of its bioenergy potential as indicated by the lipid content (20-23%) and FAME profiling.