Nutrient Removal and Biokinetic Study of Freshwater Microalgae in Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME)

Objectives: Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) is an untreated wastewater that causes water pollution when discharge directly. Therefore, the objective of this research lies on POME treatment using microalgae. Method: Batch cultivation of Chlorella sorokiniana was conducted with different volumes of POME to distilled water in order to determine it phycoremediation ability. Michealis-Menten equation was used as a model to study the biokinetic. The kinetic coefficients for substrate removal by this algae. Findings: This strain showed high efficiency of removing 31-62.2 % nitrate, 30.6-39.5 % phosphate, 54.1-95.1 % ammonium and 11-56.1 COD over 15 days culture. The nutrients biokinetic removals were determined as follows; k = 9.2*10-3 mg NO3 - mg-1 DCW d-1, Km = 68.7 mg/L, YN = 0.1 g DCW g-1 NO3 - fornitrate,k = 8*10-3 mg PO4 3- mg-1 DCW d-1, Km = 144.6 mg/L, YP = 0.12 g DCW g-1 PO4 3- for phosphate, k = 2.3*10-2 mg NH4 mg-1 DCW d-1, Km = 113 mg/L, YN = 0.08 g DCW g-1 NH4 + for ammonium and k = 0.15 mg COD mg-1 DCW d-1,Km = 1662 mg/L, YCOD = 0.02 g DCW g-1 COD for Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD). Application/Improvement: This study concluded that C. sorokiniana was successfully cultivated in POME and concomitantly produces important biomass which could be used for sustainable bioenergy production.