title: Perspectives on the feasibility of using microalgae for industrial wastewater treatment.
abstract: Although microalgae can serve as an appropriate alternative feedstock for biofuel production, the high microalgal cultivation cost has been a major obstacle for commercializing such attempts. One of the feasible solution for cost reduction is to couple microalgal biofuel production system with wastewater treatment, as microalgae are known to effectively eliminate a variety of nutrients/pollutants in wastewater, such as nitrogen/phosphate, organic carbons, VFAs, pharmaceutical compounds, textile dye compounds, and heavy metals. This review aims to critically discuss the feasibility of microalgae-based wastewater treatment, including the strategies for strain selection, the effect of wastewater types, photobioreactor design, economic feasibility assessment, and other key issues that influence the treatment performance. The potential of microalgae-bacteria consortium for treatment of industrial wastewaters is also discussed. This review provides useful information for developing an integrated wastewater treatment with microalgal biomass and biofuel production facilities and establishing efficient co-cultivation for microalgae and bacteria in such systems.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China.
authors.forename: Shih-Hsin
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chieh-Lun
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China.
authors.forename: Wan-Qian
authors.initials: WQ
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Dillirani
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nagarajan
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China.
authors.forename: Nan-Qi
authors.initials: NQ
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China; Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Duu-Jong
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China; Department of Chemical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan; Research Center for Energy Technology and Strategy, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan. Electronic address: changjs@mail.ncku.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Jo-Shu
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Chang
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D001419:Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism; D056804:Biofuels; D018533:Biomass; D004396:Coloring Agents; D004345:Drug Industry; D007220:Industrial Waste; D058086:Microalgae / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D058433:Photobioreactors; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D004396:Coloring Agents; D007220:Industrial Waste; D009584:Nitrogen; D062065:Wastewater
keywords: Algae-bacteria consortium; Microalgae; Photobioreactor; Wastewater treatment