title: Nitrogen Removal from Landfill Leachate by Microalgae.
abstract: Landfill leachates result from the degradation of solid residues in sanitary landfills, thus presenting a high variability in terms of composition. Normally, these effluents are characterized by high ammoniacal-nitrogen (N-NH₄⁺) concentrations, high chemical oxygen demands and low phosphorus concentrations. The development of effective treatment strategies becomes difficult, posing a serious problem to the environment. Phycoremediation appears to be a suitable alternative for the treatment of landfill leachates. In this study, the potential ofChlorella vulgarisfor biomass production and nutrients (mainly nitrogen and phosphorus) removal from different compositions of a landfill leachate was evaluated. Since microalgae also require phosphorus for their growth, different loads of this nutrient were evaluated, giving the following N:P ratios: 12:1, 23:1 and 35:1. The results have shown thatC. vulgariswas able to grow in the different leachate compositions assessed. However, microalgal growth was higher in the cultures presenting the lowest N-NH₄⁺ concentration. In terms of nutrients uptake, an effective removal of N-NH₄⁺ and phosphorus was observed in all the experiments, especially in those supplied with phosphorus. Nevertheless, N-NO₃-removal was considered almost negligible. These promising results constitute important findings in the development of a bioremediation technology for the treatment of landfill leachates.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Engenharia de Processos, Ambiente e Energia (LEPABE), Departamento de Engenharia Química, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal. ega11026@fe.up.pt.|Laboratory of Separation and Reaction Engineering-Laboratory of Catalysis and Materials (LSRE-LCM), Departamento de Engenharia Química, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal. ega11026@fe.up.pt.
authors.forename: Sérgio F L
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Engenharia de Processos, Ambiente e Energia (LEPABE), Departamento de Engenharia Química, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal. pdeqb0707727@fe.up.pt.
authors.forename: Ana L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Gonçalves
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Separation and Reaction Engineering-Laboratory of Catalysis and Materials (LSRE-LCM), Departamento de Engenharia Química, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal. francisca.moreira@fe.up.pt.
authors.forename: Francisca C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Moreira
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Separation and Reaction Engineering-Laboratory of Catalysis and Materials (LSRE-LCM), Departamento de Engenharia Química, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal. tania.silva@fe.up.pt.
authors.forename: Tânia F C V
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Separation and Reaction Engineering-Laboratory of Catalysis and Materials (LSRE-LCM), Departamento de Engenharia Química, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal. vilar@fe.up.pt.
authors.forename: Vítor J P
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: Vilar
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Engenharia de Processos, Ambiente e Energia (LEPABE), Departamento de Engenharia Química, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal. jcpires@fe.up.pt.
authors.forename: José C M
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Pires
mesh_terms: D000641:Ammonia / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D048408:Chlorella vulgaris / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D058086:Microalgae / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D009566:Nitrates / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D064091:Waste Disposal Facilities; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D009566:Nitrates; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D000641:Ammonia
keywords: Chlorella vulgaris; biomass production; landfill leachate; microalgae; nutrient removal kinetics; wastewater treatment