| This research broadens the scope of microalgae based research grown on swine waste water as it offers a combination of wastewater treatment and biofuel production. Swine wastewater is an enriched source of phosphorus, nitrogen and other organic compounds that are necessary for the growth of microalgae. While growing in swine wastewater, algae consumes the nutrients from it, so there is no need of arable land for its growth. Current biofuel production relies on limited arable lands to supply feedstock making it impossible to meet the global biofuel demands without disrupting food production. Algae can potentially produce 1,000-4,000 gallons of oil/acre/yr which is significantly higher than other oil seed crops that are being used now. In this research, suitable culture conditions (temperature, light intensity etc) are determined for the growth of microalgae in swine waste water at the farm of the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (NCAT), which is very easy to achieve naturally, and the conditions were optimized to get the maximum removal of nutrients for wastewater treatment. Two commercial microalgae strains of C. vulgaris and C. reinhardtii were studied and the highest specific growth rate was found to be 1.336 day-1 for C. vulgaris obtained at temperature 25°C, light intensity 600 micromolarm-2s-1, grown in 100% swine wastewater. A selective strain from NCAT farm was compared with these two commercial strains and was found to be more effective as a feedstock of biofuel. |
