Study of the treating wastewater for bioenergy production using microalgae

Abstract

Currently, the study of friendly environmental production processes is increasingly searched for the purpose of environmental protection and human health. Among these methods, the bioremediation and the production of biofuels have received a wide range of international attention. The bioremediation is an attractive process for contaminated industrial water treatment, where microorganisms can be used to remove or reduce pollutants (i.e. inorganic and organic nutrients and heavy metals). This process can be applied to domestic, animal or industrial wastewater, or contaminated soil. This research project aims to study the process of bioremediation of contaminated water using microalgae, and at the same time, generate biomass for studying the feasibility of bioenergy production. Nowadays, the bioenergy production from microalgae is not economically viable, mainly due to the costs associated with production. However combination of microalgae use for wastewater treatment and bioenergy production may be feasible due to significant reduction of fertilizers cost and values of treated water. (AU)