Biomass Production and Nutrient Removal Using Culture of Chlorella vulgaris NIES-227 in Unsterilized Domestic Wastewater

Cultivating microalgae for biomass production is a prospective method to treat wastewater and recover nutrients simultaneously. The aim of this study was to evaluate the growth and nutrient removal efficiency of Chlorella vulgaris NIES-227 in unsterilized domestic wastewater. The results showed that removal efficiencies of COD, total nitrogen, ammonia nitrogen, nitrite, and total phosphorus by NIES-227 reached 87.69%, 97.52%, 95.51%, 100% and 100% in domestic wastewater. NIES-227 grew better with higher OD680 and total carbohydrate content in domestic wastewater than that in BG11 medium. However, the contents of protein and Chlb were lower than those in BG11 medium group. The results indicated that NIES-227 had huge potential in domestic wastewater treatment, production of renewable biomass and high-value compounds. This study also suggested that cultivating NIES-227 using unsterilized domestic wastewater was feasible.