[Heterotrophic cultivation of Chlorella for beer brewery wastewater treatment]

To treat wastewater from beer breweries, we used the wastewater for the heterotrophic cultivation of Chlorella.

Using Basal medium containing 10 g/L glucose x H2O, we screened 5 Chlorella strains, of which 2 strains with high specific growth rate and maximal biomass were used for wastewater treatment.

The two strains, Chlorella pyrenoidosa 15-2070 and Chlorella vulgaris 15-2075, were suitable for heterotrophic mass cultivation, and had similar results. For Chlorella pyrenoidosa 15-2070, 5.3 g/L biomass was achieved with Basal medium containing 10 g/L glucose x H2O and beer wastewater. In addition, the highest removal efficiencies for CODcr (92.2%), BOD5 (95.1%), NO3(-)-N (98.5%), NH4(+)-N (92.3%) were achieved during the process.

Beer wastewater could be used as a major component of the medium for heterotrophic cultivation. Most of the harmful compounds in the wastewater could be removed during this process.