Nutrient removal in a tubular photobioreactor fed with UASB effluent treating black water

• Grant number: 15/02073-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: July 01, 2015
• End date: June 30, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Sanitary Engineering - Water Supply and Wastewater Treatment
• Principal Investigator: Luiz Antonio Daniel
• Grantee: Ana Paula Erbetta Sueitt
• Host Institution: Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos (EESC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 16/04879-5 - Pathogens identification in black water and evaluation of indicator microorganisms removal throughout NIOO sanitation system, BE.EP.PD

Abstract

Globally, aquatic ecosystems have been subjected to a wide variety of degradation forms. Sewage is considered one of the main sources of water bodies' pollution, contributing significantly to organic matter and nutrients loadings, as well as pharmaceuticals and pathogenic microorganisms. In terms of sanitation, black water corresponds to the effluent collected from toilets, basically containing faeces, urine and toilet paper, which represents about 57% of organic matter, 90% of nitrogen and 77% of phosphorus from the household wastewater. Considering that conventional wastewater treatment systems are mainly designed for the removal of organic matter and that those systems do not satisfactorily remove nutrients from sewage, it is necessary and urgent to investigate alternative treatments capable to achieve higher nitrogen and phosphorus removal as a way to supplement the usual employed systems. In this context, the main objective of this research project is to identify the key variables involved in nutrient removal by Chlorella sorokiniana in a tubular photobioreactor fed with UASB effluent treating simulated black water. The expectation is that the algal biomass rich in nitrogen and phosphorus removed from the effluent may be used as fertilizer, contributing doubly to the solution of environmental problems: treating an undesirable residue and generating a high valuable byproduct.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

DE OLIVEIRA, GABRIELA LAILA; ERBETTA SUEITT, ANA PAULA; DOS SANTOS, PRISCILA RIBEIRO; LEITE, LUAN DE SOUZA; DANIEL, LUIZ ANTONIO. Removal of protozoan (oo)cysts and bacteria during microalgae harvesting: Outcomes from a lab-scale experiment. Chemosphere, v. 286, n. 3, JAN 2022. (17/14620-1, 15/02073-0, 12/50522-0, 13/50351-4)