Removal of Ammonia and Phosphate from Water Resources using Free and Immobilized Microalgae

Laboratory experiments were performed to study nitrogen and phosphorus uptake by the green microalga Scenedesmus quadricauda. The treatment process was studied using different forms of microalga i.e. free, immobilized and co-immobilized microalga in sodium alginate beads. The study revealed that the maximum removal percentage of 1 mg/l ammonia and phosphate solutions reached up to 100% and 86%, respectively, after 4 days using free microalga; meanwhile, at 5mg/l ammonia and phosphate concentrations, the maximum removal percentage reached 91.8% after 4 days and 61% after 6 days, respectively. To solve the harvesting problem, immobilization process was carried out for the microalga and the removal percentage of immobilized microalga was nearly close to the removal percentage of free microalga. The removal percentage was enhanced by the addition of microalga growth promoting bacteria MGPB Azotobacter chroococcum and Bacillus megatherium where the removal capacity reached up to 100% for ammonia, and 80.4% for phosphate after the 3 and 6 days, respectively, as compared to 100% ammonia, and 61% phosphate after 4 and 6 days, respectively, by using the immobilized microalga.

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