title: The long-term effects of wall attached microalgal biofilm on algae-based wastewater treatment.
abstract: The influence of the reactor wall attached biofilm on the nutrient removal performance was investigated in an open photobioreactor during long-term operation. Total nitrogen and phosphorus removal efficiencies were statistically similar between reactor with (reactor A) and without (reactor B) biofilm at the Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT) of 18, 13.5 and 9days. When the HRT reduced to 8days, total nitrogen and phosphorus removal efficiencies in the reactor A were 42.95±5.11% and 97.97±1.12%, respectively, while significant lower removal efficiencies (38.06±5.80% for total nitrogen and 83.14±8.16% for phosphorus) were obtained in the reactor B. The VSS concentrations throughout the test were statistically similar for the two reactors, with a mean value of 0.63±0.25g/l for reactor A and 0.69±0.20g/l for reactor B. This study indicated that the reactor wall attached biofilm supported high phosphorus and nitrogen removal, which may provide insight into the practical implementation of microalgae-based wastewater treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Thorvaldsensvej 40, 1871 Frederiksberg, Denmark. Electronic address: yanyansu@plen.ku.dk.
authors.forename: Yanyan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences, Suderburg, 29556, Germany.
authors.forename: Artur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mennerich
authors.affiliation: Institute of Ecology, Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Lüneburg 21335, Germany.
authors.forename: Brigitte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Urban
mesh_terms: D018441:Biofilms / Q000254:growth & development*; D058086:Microalgae / Q000254:growth & development*; D009584:Nitrogen; D010758:Phosphorus; D058433:Photobioreactors / Q000382:microbiology*; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*; D062065:Wastewater / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D009584:Nitrogen; D010758:Phosphorus; D062065:Wastewater
keywords: Long-term operation; Microalgae; Nutrient removal; Wall attached biofilm; Wastewater treatment