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Harvesting of Scenedesmus sp. after phycoremediation of meat processing wastewater; optimization of flocculation and chemical analysis of biomass
Author(s) -
Latiffi Nur Atikah Ahmad,
Mohamed Radin Maya Saphira Radin,
AlGheethi Adel,
Tajuddin RM
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of chemical technology and biotechnology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.64
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1097-4660
pISSN - 0268-2575
DOI - 10.1002/jctb.6536
Subject(s) - scenedesmus , biomass (ecology) , wastewater , chemistry , flocculation , chemical oxygen demand , pulp and paper industry , alum , food science , environmental chemistry , botany , agronomy , environmental science , biology , organic chemistry , environmental engineering , algae , engineering
Meat production is associated with the generation of huge quantities of meat processing wastewater (MPWW) which has high concentrations of nutrients. The utilization of Scenedesmus sp. in the phycoremediation process to treat MPWW has attracted growing interest, but there is inadequate information on the management of biomass of this micro‐organism. This study aims to optimize the harvesting of Scenedesmus sp. biomass generated during phycoremediation through flocculation with alum and its potential biomass by‐product. The removal rates of the chemical oxygen demand, ammonia, total nitrogen, total phosphorus and orthophosphate were 99.16% ( R 2 = 0.95), 97.19% ( R 2 = 0.91), 93.91% ( R 2 = 0.96), 97.25% ( R 2 = 0.85) and 99.38% ( R 2 = 0.9517), respectively. From the result, the best coagulant for recovery efficiency (97.54%) was recorded at pH 8.6 with 116.85 mg L −1 alum. Three major chemical compounds – tetradecanoic, oleic and dodecanoic acids – were recorded in the extraction of Scenedesmus sp. biomass (as determined by gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry analysis; these have the potential for use in the cosmetic and medical industries. The main functional groups in the harvested biomass were OH, CH, C‐O‐C and CHCH. It can be concluded that the flocculation method was the most efficient compared to filtration process for recovering Scenedesmus sp. biomass owing to the absence of toxic by‐products. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI)