Harnessing Microalgae Photobioreactors to Address Rising Sludge and Fouling Challenges in Membrane Bioreactors

Maktum Muharja; Rahadian Abdul Rachman; Arief Widjaja; Rizki Fitria Darmayanti; Candra Wijaya; Dendy Satrio

doi:10.22146/ajche.12956

Maktum Muharja Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Industrial Technology and System Engineering, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Surabaya 60111, Indonesia
Rahadian Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences and Data Analytics, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Surabaya 60111, Indonesia
Arief Widjaja Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Industrial Technology and System Engineering, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Surabaya 60111, Indonesia
Darmayanti Department of Agro-industrial Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Muhammadiyah Jember, Jalan Karimata 49, Jember, 68121, Indonesia
Candra Wijaya Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Industrial Technology and System Engineering, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Surabaya 60111, Indonesia
Dendy Satrio Department of Ocean Engineering, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Surabaya 60111, Indonesia

DOI: https://doi.org/10.22146/ajche.12956

Keywords: Fouling, MBBR, Microalgae, Photobioreactor, Rising Sludge, Wastewater

Abstract

This study explored the application of microalgal engineering in a photobioreactor to mitigate rising sludge and fouling issues in a Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). By introducing microalgae into the activated sludge of a Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor (MBBR), this study aimed to enhance the dissolved oxygen content within the MBBR, which was a critical factor for optimizing the reduction of Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) in wastewater. During the microalgae cultivation phase, Chlorella sp. was cultured with adding nutrients, including urea and TSP. Upon reaching a sufficient Mixed Liquor Suspended Solids (MLSS) concentration, microalgae were inoculated into the MBBR. The research results demonstrated an improvement in the quality of the effluent and a reduction in rising sludge within the clarifier, coinciding with an increase in dissolved oxygen content exceeding 2 mg/L. Cost-benefit analysis revealed a significant reduction in WWTP operational costs, primarily due to the discontinuation of two blowers that were previously operated. This study encourages the utilization of microalgae in MBBRs as a potential solution to reduce operational costs in the wastewater treatment industry.

Author Biographies

Rahadian, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences and Data Analytics, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Surabaya 60111, Indonesia

Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences and Data Analytics, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Surabaya 60111, Indonesia

Darmayanti, Department of Agro-industrial Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Muhammadiyah Jember, Jalan Karimata 49, Jember, 68121, Indonesia

Department of Agro-industrial Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Muhammadiyah Jember, Jalan Karimata 49, Jember, 68121, Indonesia

References

Abdelfattah, A., Ali, S.S., Ramadan, H., El-Aswar, E.I., Eltawab, R., Ho, S.-H., Elsamahy, T., Li, S., El-Sheekh, M.M., Schagerl, M., Kornaros, M., and Sun, J., 2023. “Microalgae-based wastewater treatment: Mechanisms, challenges, recent advances, and future prospects.” Environ. Sci. Ecotechnology 13, 100205.

Alimny, A.N., Muharja, M., and Widjaja, A., 2019. “Kinetics of Reducing Sugar Formation from Coconut Husk by Subcritical Water Hydrolysis.” J. Phys. Conf. Ser. 1373, 012006.

An, Y., Xing, Y., Wei, J., Zhou, C., Wang, L., Pan, X., Wang, J., Wang, M., Pang, H., and Zhou, Z., 2022. “Performance and microbial community of MBBRs under three maintenance strategies for intermittent stormwater treatment.” Sci. Total Environ. 851, 158578.

Chai, W.S., Tan, W.G., Halimatul Munawaroh, H.S., Gupta, V.K., Ho, S.-H., and Show, P.L., 2021. “Multifaceted roles of microalgae in the application of wastewater biotreatment: A review.” Environ. Pollut. 269, 116236.

Chandran, P., Suresh, S., Balasubramain, B., Gangwar, J., Raj, A.S., Aarathy, U.L., Meyyazhagan, A., Pappuswamy, M., and Sebastian, J.K., 2023. “Biological treatment solutions using bioreactors for environmental contaminants from industrial waste water.” J. Umm Al-Qura Univ. Appl. Sci.

Collao, J., Antonio, P., Bolado-rodr, S., and Fernandez-gonzalez, N., 2022. “Current Concentrations of Zn , Cu , and As in Piggery Wastewater Compromise Nutrient Removals in Microalgae – Bacteria Photobioreactors Due to Altered Microbial Communities.” Biology 11, 1–24.

Darmayanti, R.F., Muharja, M., Widjaja, A., Widiastuti, N., Rachman, R.A., Widyanto, A.R., Halim, A., Satrio, D., and Piluharto, B., 2023. “Performance of modified hollow fiber membrane silver nanoparticles-zeolites Na–Y/PVDF composite used in membrane bioreactor for industrial wastewater treatment.” Heliyon 9, e21350.

Dlangamandla, C., Ntwampe, S.K.O., Basitere, M., Chidi, B.S., and Okeleye, B.I., 2023. “Biodefoamer-Supported Activated Sludge System for the Treatment of Poultry Slaughterhouse Wastewater.” Appl. Sci. 13, 9225.

Edefell, E., Falås, P., Torresi, E., Hagman, M., Cimbritz, M., Bester, K., and Christensson, M., 2021. “Promoting the degradation of organic micropollutants in tertiary moving bed biofilm reactors by controlling growth and redox conditions.” J. Hazard. Mater. 414, 125535.

Fan, S., Ji, B., Abu Hasan, H., Fan, J., Guo, S., Wang, J., and Yuan, J., 2021a. “Microalgal–bacterial granular sludge process for non-aerated aquaculture wastewater treatment.” Bioprocess Biosyst. Eng. 44, 1733–1739.

Fan, S., Zhu, L., and Ji, B., 2021b. “Deciphering the effect of light intensity on microalgal-bacterial granular sludge process for non-aerated municipal wastewater treatment.” Algal Res. 58, 102437.

Fu, Y., Xie, X., Wang, Y., Liu, J., Zheng, Z., Kaplan, D.L., and Wang, X., 2021. “Sustained Photosynthesis and Oxygen Generation of Microalgae-Embedded Silk Fibroin Hydrogels.” ACS Biomater. Sci. Eng. 7, 2734–2744.

Goh, P.S., Ahmad, N.A., Lim, J.W., Liang, Y.Y., Kang, H.S., Ismail, A.F., and Arthanareeswaran, G., 2022. “Microalgae-Enabled Wastewater Remediation and Nutrient Recovery through Membrane Photobioreactors : Recent Achievements and Future Perspective.” Membranes 12, 1–25.

Huang, C., Luo, Y., Zeng, G., Zhang, P., Peng, R., Jiang, X., and Jiang, M., 2022. “Effect of adding microalgae to whiteleg shrimp culture on water quality, shrimp development and yield.” Aquac. Reports 22, 100916.

Huang, W., Li, B., Zhang, C., Zhang, Z., Lei, Z., Lu, B., and Zhou, B., 2015. “Effect of algae growth on aerobic granulation and nutrients removal from synthetic wastewater by using sequencing batch reactors.” Bioresour. Technol. 179, 187–192.

Hussain, F., Shah, S.Z., Ahmad, H., Abubshait, S.A., Abubshait, H.A., Laref, A., Manikandan, A., Kusuma, H.S., and Iqbal, M., 2021. “Microalgae an ecofriendly and sustainable wastewater treatment option: Biomass application in biofuel and bio-fertilizer production. A review.” Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 137, 110603.

Huynh, V. Van, Thi, M., Ngo, T., Itayama, T., Binh, M., and Vo, T., 2023. “Dynamic of microbial community in simultaneous nitrification and denitrification process : A review.” Bioresour. Technol. Reports 22, 101415.

James, S.N., and Vijayanandan, A., 2023. “Recent advances in simultaneous nitrification and denitrification for nitrogen and micropollutant removal : a review.” Biodegradation 34, 103–123.

Kaur Nagi, G., Chetry, R., Singh, N., Sinha, A., and Shinde, O.A., 2021. “Bioremediation of coke plant wastewater from steel industry with mixed activated sludge–microalgal consortium in lab-scale semi-continuous mode.” J. Chem. Technol. Biotechnol. 96, 2249–2256.

Kovacs, D.J., Li, Z., Baetz, B.W., Hong, Y., Donnaz, S., Zhao, X., Zhou, P., Ding, H., and Dong, Q., 2022. “Membrane fouling prediction and uncertainty analysis using machine learning: A wastewater treatment plant case study.” J. Memb. Sci. 660, 120817.

Leyva-díaz, J.C., Alm, M.C., Martín-pascual, J., and Mu, M., 2022. “Microalgae bioreactor for nutrient removal and resource recovery from wastewater in the paradigm of circular economy.” Bioresour. Technol. 363, 1–12.

Liang, Dong hui, Hu, Y., Liang, Dongmin, Chenga, J., and Chena, Y., 2021. “Bioaugmentation of Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor (MBBR) with Achromobacter JL9 for enhanced sulfamethoxazole (SMX) degradation in aquaculture wastewater.” Ecotoxicol. Environ. Saf. 207, 111258.

Masmoudi Jabri, K., Fiedler, T., Saidi, A., Nolde, E., Ogurek, M., Geissen, S.-U., and Bousselmi, L., 2019. “Steady-state modeling of the biodegradation performance of a multistage moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) used for on-site greywater treatment.” Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. 26, 19047–19062.

Masojídek, J., Ranglová, K., Lakatos, G.E., Benavides, A.M.S., and Torzillo, G., 2021. “Variables governing photosynthesis and growth in microalgae mass cultures.” Processes 9, 820.

Muharja, M., Fadhilah, N., Darmayanti, R.F., Sangian, H.F., Nurtono, T., and Widjaja, A., 2020. “Effect of severity factor on the subcritical water and enzymatic hydrolysis of coconut husk for reducing sugar production.” Bull. Chem. React. Eng. Catal. 15, 786–797.

Muharja, M., Fadilah, S.N., Arimbawa, I.M., Hasanah, S., Darmayanti, R.F., Rois, M.F., and Asrofi, M., 2022. “Low-cost, sustainable, and high-capacity magnetite–cellulose adsorbent from Ramie stem (Boehmeria nivea L.) as oil spill solution.” Chem. Pap. 76, 7429–7440.

Muharja, M., Hasanah, S., Sari, D.A.D., Khoirunnafiuddin, M., Fadilah, S.N., Darmayanti, R.F., Satrio, D., and Ismayati, M., 2023. “Enhanced oil removal by graphene oxide/N,N′-methylene bisacrylamide modified magnetite-cellulose aerogel derived from ramie stem waste: Adsorption performance, kinetics, and economical analysis.” Bioresour. Technol. Reports 24, 101645.

Muharja, M., Junianti, F., Nurtono, T., and Widjaja, A., 2017. “Combined subcritical water and enzymatic hydrolysis for reducing sugar production from coconut husk.” AIP Conf. Proc. 1840, 30004.

Olk, D.C., Bloom, P.R., Perdue, E.M., McKnight, D.M., Chen, Y., Farenhorst, A., Senesi, N., Chin, Y. ‐P., Schmitt‐Kopplin, P., Hertkorn, N., and Harir, M., 2019. “Environmental and Agricultural Relevance of Humic Fractions Extracted by Alkali from Soils and Natural Waters.” J. Environ. Qual. 48, 217–232.

Otondo, A., Kokabian, B., Stuart-Dahl, S., and Gude, V.G., 2018. “Energetic evaluation of wastewater treatment using microalgae, Chlorella vulgaris.” J. Environ. Chem. Eng. 6, 3213–3222.

Pilli, S., Sellamuthu, B., Pandey, A.K., and Tyagi, R.D., 2020. “Treatment of wastewater containing pharmaceuticals: biological treatment,” in: Current Developments in Biotechnology and Bioengineering. Elsevier, pp. 463–520.

Prasad, R., Gupta, S.K., Shabnam, N., Oliveira, C.Y.B., Nema, A.K., Ansari, F.A., and Bux, F., 2021. “Role of Microalgae in Global CO2 Sequestration: Physiological Mechanism, Recent Development, Challenges, and Future Prospective.” Sustainability 13, 13061.

Rachman, R.A., Widiastuti, N., Purnomo, A.S., Widjaja, A., Mumtazah, Z., Darmayanti, R.F., and Muharja, M., 2024. “Permeate flux recovery and removal foulant performances of hollow fiber polyvinylidene fluoride membrane bioreactor with peroxodisulfate activated iron ( II ) sulfate as a chemical cleaning agent.” South African J. Chem. Eng. 48, 436–450.

Saini, S., Tewari, S., and Sharma, V., 2023. “Biofilm-mediated wastewater treatment : a comprehensive review.” Mater. Adv. 4, 1415–1443.

Santo, E., Ishii, M., Pinto, U.M., Matsudo, M.C., and Carvalho, M. De, 2022. “Obtaining Bioproducts from the Studies of Signals and Interactions between Microalgae and Bacteria.” Microorganisms 10, 1–17.

Sinn, J., Agrawal, S., Orschler, L., Schubert, S., and Lackner, S., 2023. “Upgrade of waste stabilization ponds to improve effluents for reuse purposes.” H2Open J. 6, 315–330.

Sutherland, D.L., Park, J., Heubeck, S., Ralph, P.J., and Craggs, R.J., 2020. “Size matters – Microalgae production and nutrient removal in wastewater treatment high rate algal ponds of three different sizes.” Algal Res. 45, 101734.

Wang, Guochen, Hambly, A.C., Dou, Y., Wang, Guan, Tang, K., and Andersen, H.R., 2022. “Polishing micropollutants in municipal wastewater, using biogenic manganese oxides in a moving bed biofilm reactor (BioMn-MBBR).” J. Hazard. Mater. 427, 127889.

Wang, H., Liu, Z., Cui, D., Liu, Y., Yang, L., Chen, H., Qiu, G., Geng, Y., Xiong, Z., and Shao, P., 2023. “A pilot scale study on the treatment of rare earth tailings (REEs) wastewater with low C/N ratio using microalgae photobioreactor.” J. Environ. Manage. 328, 116973.

Wang, L., Zeng, G., Yang, Z., and Luo, L., 2014. “Operation of partial nitrification to nitrite of landfill leachate and its performance with respect to different oxygen conditions.” Biochem. Eng. J. 87, 62–68.

Wang, Q., Shen, Q., Wang, J., Zhang, Y., Zhang, Z., Lei, Z., Shimizu, K., and Lee, D.J., 2020. “Fast cultivation and harvesting of oil-producing microalgae Ankistrodesmus falcatus var. acicularis fed with anaerobic digestion liquor via biogranulation in addition to nutrients removal.” Sci. Total Environ. 741, 140183.

Zhang, B., Lens, P.N.L., Shi, W., Zhang, R., Zhang, Z., Guo, Y., Bao, X., and Cui, F., 2018. “Enhancement of aerobic granulation and nutrient removal by an algal–bacterial consortium in a lab-scale photobioreactor.” Chem. Eng. J. 334, 2373–2382.

Zou, H., Rutta, N.C., Chen, S., Zhang, M., Lin, H., and Liao, B., 2022. “Membrane Photobioreactor Applied for Municipal Wastewater Treatment at a High Solids Retention Time: Effects of Microalgae Decay on Treatment Performance and Biomass Properties.” Membranes 12, 564.