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Updated: Jun 8, 2026

Biogas Purification through the use of a Microalgae-Bacterial System in Semi-Industrial High Rate Algal Ponds
Published on: March 22, 2024
Coagulation/flocculation-based removal of algal-bacterial biomass from piggery wastewater treatment
Ignacio de Godos1, Héctor O Guzman, Roberto Soto
1Center of Biotechnology. Universidad Mayor de San Simón, Campus Universitario, s/n Cochabamba, Bolivia.
Abstract:
Two conventional chemical coagulants (FeCl3 and Fe2(SO4)3) and five commercial polymeric flocculants (Drewfloc 447, Flocudex CS/5000, Flocusol CM/78, Chemifloc CV/300 and Chitosan) were comparatively evaluated for their ability to remove algal-bacterial biomass from the effluent of a photosynthetically oxygenated piggery wastewater biodegradation process. Chlorella sorokiniana, Scenedesmus obliquus, Chlorococcum sp. and a wild type Chlorella, in symbiosis with a bacterial consortium, were used as model algal-bacterial consortia. While the highest biomass removals (66-98%) for the ferric salts were achieved at concentrations of 150-250 mg L(-1), dosages of 25-50 mg L(-1) were required for the polymer flocculants to support comparable removal efficiencies. Process efficiency declined when the polymer flocculant was overdosed. Biomass concentration did not show a significant impact on flocculation within the concentration range tested. The high flocculant requirements herein recorded might be due to the competition of colloidal organic for the flocculants and the stationary phase conditions of biomass.
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