Hydrocarbon production and nitrogen/phosphorus removal from piggery wastewater by cultivation of Botryococcus braunii

The green algae, Botryococcus braunii, has an unusually high hydrocarbon content, ranging from 15 to 75% of dry weight, as a long-chain unsaturated hydrocarbon. It has a potential as a renewable source of chemical feedstocks or fuels. The commercial production of hydrocarbon by B. braunii has not been achieved mainly due to their economic and several technical barriers. The B. braunii cultivation with piggery wastewater could alleviate to economic problems by the reduction of inorganic nutrients, mainly nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater. We have been studying cultivation of B. braunii in the pretreated piggery wastewater by a MBR(membrane bioreactod, containing about 3000 mg $NO^3$ /L, 15 mg $NH_4\;^+/L$, 3 mg P/L, and others. The purpose of this study was to develop a continuous culture system in piggery wastewater and nitrogen-limited chemostat.

본 연구에서는 축산폐수를 이용하여 건조질량의 $15{\sim}75$ %의 탄화수소를 생산한다고 알려진 B. braunii 배양에 적용하였다. 질소원이 부족한 상황에서 세포의 성장이 나 탄화수소의 생산은 저해를 받았으며, 초기 인의 농도는 질소원이 결핍된 상황을 제외하고는 세포 성장이나 탄화수소의 생산에 큰 영향을 미치지 못했다. 축산폐수를 이용한 설험에서는 33 %의 축산폐수가 nitrate를 제거시키는데 가장 적절하였다.