Vol. 36 (2026): Volumen 36
Artículos de investigación

Dual-purpose system for microalgae cultivation reusing dairy industry wastewater

PDF
  • Rubén,
  • Stefanie Acosta Ferreira,
  • Ariel,
  • Vicente,
  • Luzma,
  • Nagamani,
  • Rafael,
  • Omar
Rubén Departamento de Ingeniería Agroindustrial, Universidad de Guanajuato. Mutualismo #303, Colonia La Suiza, Celaya, Guanajuato, 38060, México.
Stefanie Acosta Ferreira Departamento de Ingeniería Agroindustrial, Universidad de Guanajuato. Mutualismo #303, Colonia La Suiza, Celaya, Guanajuato, 38060, México.
Ariel Departamento de Ingeniería Agroindustrial, Universidad de Guanajuato. Mutualismo #303, Colonia La Suiza, Celaya, Guanajuato, 38060, México.
Vicente Departamento de Ingeniería Agroindustrial, Universidad de Guanajuato. Mutualismo #303, Colonia La Suiza, Celaya, Guanajuato, 38060, México.
Luzma Departamento de Ingeniería Agroindustrial, Universidad de Guanajuato. Mutualismo #303, Colonia La Suiza, Celaya, Guanajuato, 38060, México.
Nagamani Laboratorio de Biorremediación., Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila, Torreón-Matamoros km 7.5, Torreón, Coahuila
Rafael Departamento de Ingeniería Agroindustrial, Universidad de Guanajuato. Mutualismo #303, Colonia La Suiza, Celaya, Guanajuato, 38060, México.
Omar Departamento de Ingeniería Agroindustrial, Universidad de Guanajuato. Mutualismo #303, Colonia La Suiza, Celaya, Guanajuato, 38060, México.

Published 2026-06-10

Copyright (c) 2026 Jesús Rubén Rodríguez Núñez, Stefanie Acosta Ferreira, Christian Ariel Cabrera Capetillo, Vicente Peña Caballero, Luz María Landa Zavaleta, Nagamani Balagurusamy, Rafael Veloz García, Omar S. Castillo

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Rodríguez Núñez, J. R., Acosta Ferreira, S., Cabrera Capetillo, C. A., Peña Caballero, V., Landa Zavaleta, L. M., Balagurusamy, N., Veloz García, R., & Castillo, O. S. (2026). Dual-purpose system for microalgae cultivation reusing dairy industry wastewater. Acta Universitaria, 36, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.15174/au.2026.4583

Abstract

A dual-purpose system is a technique that   increases microalgae biomass production using wastewater as a nutrient source.  This work evaluated a dual-purpose system using dairy industry wastewater (DWW) and synthetic mineral medium to increase microalgae biomass yields. Kinetics growth, lipids, proteins, chlorophyll, and nutrient consumption were determined in combinations of bold-basal medium (BBM), and water-wastewater (DWW) medium. The combinations were 40DWW-60TW and 40DWW-60BBM, and the biomass yields were 1.47 g/L and 2.46 g/L, with a COD removal of 85% and 71%, respectively. The tests tried in 4 L flat plate photobioreactors showed that 40DWW-60BBM formulation increased the biomass to 1.65 g/L, with a COD removal of 98%.

PDF

References

  1. Abraham, J., Abimbola, T., Braida, W. J., Terracciano, A., Su, T. L., Christodoulatos, C., Koutsospyros, A., RoyChowdhury, A., Smolinski, B., & Lawal, A. (2023). On-site pilot-scale microalgae cultivation using industrial wastewater for bioenergy production: a case study towards circular bioeconomy. Bioengineering, 10(12), 1339. https://doi.org/10.3390/bioengineering10121339
  2. Alef, K. (1995). Enrichment, isolation and counting of soil microorganisms. In K. Alef & P. Nannipieri (eds.), Methods in applied soil microbiology and biochemistry (pp. 123-191). Elsevier Science. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-513840-6.X5014-9
  3. Álvarez-Díaz, P. D., Ruiz, J., Arbib, Z., Barragán, J., Garrido-Pérez, M. C., & Perales, J. A. (2015). Wastewater treatment and biodiesel production by Scenedesmus obliquus in a two-stage cultivation process. Bioresource Technology, 181, 90–96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2015.01.018
  4. Amini, M., Younesi, H., Lorestani, A. A. Z., & Najafpour, G. (2013). Determination of optimum conditions for dairy wastewater treatment in UAASB reactor for removal of nutrients. Bioresource Technology, 145, 71–79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2013.01.111
  5. Andrade, L. H., Mendes, F. D. S., Espindola, J. C., & Amaral, M. C. S. (2014). Nanofiltration as tertiary treatment for the reuse of dairy wastewater treated by membrane bioreactor. Separation and Purification Technology, 126, 21–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2014.01.056
  6. Association of Official Analytical Chemist. (1980). (W. Horwitz, Ed.; 13th ed.). AOAC.
  7. Barsanti, L., & Gualtieri, P. (2007). Algae: anatomy, biochemistry and biotechnology. Journal of Phycology, 43, 412-414. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1529-8817.2007.00335.x
  8. Becker, E. W. (2007). Micro-algae as a source of protein. Biotechnology Advances, 25(2), 207–210. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biotechadv.2006.11.002
  9. Camacho-Rodríguez, J., Cerón-García, M. C., Fernández-Sevilla, J. M., & Molina-Grima, E. (2015). The influence of culture conditions on biomass and high value product generation by Nannochloropsis gaditana in aquaculture. Algal Research, 11, 63–73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.algal.2015.05.017
  10. Carvalho, F., Prazeres, A. R., & Rivas, J. (2013). Cheese whey wastewater: characterization and treatment. Science of the Total Environment, 445–446, 385–396. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.12.038
  11. Cheirsilp, B., Kitcha, S., & Torpee, S. (2011). Co-culture of an oleaginous yeast Rhodotorula glutinis and a microalga Chlorella vulgaris for biomass and lipid production using pure and crude glycerol as a sole carbon source. Annals of Microbiology, 62, 987–993. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13213-011-0338-y
  12. Chen, H. B., Wu, J. Y., Wang, C. F., Fu, C. C., Shieh, C. J., Chen, C. I., Wang, C. Y., & Liu, Y. C. (2010). Modeling on chlorophyll α and phycocyanin production by Spirulina platensis under various light-emitting diodes. Biochemical Engineering Journal, 53, 52–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bej.2010.09.004
  13. Chinnasamy, S., Bhatnagar, A., Hunt, R. W., & Das, K. C. (2010). Microalgae cultivation in a wastewater dominated by carpet mill effluents for biofuel applications. Bioresource Technology, 101(9), 3097–3105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2009.12.026
  14. Chisti, Y. (2007). Biodiesel from microalgae. Biotechnology Advances, 25(3), 294–306. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biotechadv.2007.02.001
  15. Choi, H. J. (2016). Dairy wastewater treatment using microalgae for potential biodiesel application. Environmental Engineering Research, 21(4), 393–400. https://doi.org/10.4491/eer.2015.151
  16. Daneshvar, E., Antikainen, L., Koutra, E., Kornaros, M., & Bhatnagar, A. (2018a). Investigation on the feasibility of Chlorella vulgaris cultivation in a mixture of pulp and aquaculture effluents: treatment of wastewater and lipid extraction. Bioresource Technology, 255, 104–110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2018.01.101
  17. Daneshvar, E., Zarrinmehr, M. J., Hashtjin, A. M., Farhadian, O., & Bhatnagar, A. (2018b). Versatile applications of freshwater and marine water microalgae in dairy wastewater treatment, lipid extraction and tetracycline biosorption. Bioresource Technology, 268, 523–530. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2018.08.032
  18. Eppink, M. H. M., Olivieri, G., Reith, H., van den Berg, C., Barbosa, M. J., & Wijffels, R. H. (2019). From current algae products to future biorefinery practices: a Review. In K. Wagemann, & N. Tippkötter (eds.), Biorefineries. Advances in Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology, vol. 166 (pp. 99–124). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/10_2016_64
  19. Feng, D., Chen, Z., Xue, S., & Zhang, W. (2011). Increased lipid production of the marine oleaginous microalgae Isochrysis zhangjiangensis (Chrysophyta) by nitrogen supplement. Bioresource Technology, 102(12), 6710–6716. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2011.04.006
  20. Göblös, S., Portörő, P., Bordás, D., Kálmán, M., & Kiss, I. (2008). Comparison of the effectivities of two-phase and single-phase anaerobic sequencing batch reactors during dairy wastewater treatment. Renewable Energy, 33(5), 960–965. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2007.06.006
  21. Gouveia, L., Oliveira, A. C., Congestri, R., Bruno, L., Soares, A. T., Menezes, R. S., Filho, N. R. A., & Tzovenis, I. (2017). Biodiesel from microalgae. In C. Gonzalez-Fernandez, & R. Muñoz (eds.), Microalgae-based biofuels and bioproducts (pp. 235-258). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-101023-5.00010-8
  22. Güven, G., Perendeci, A., & Tanyolaç, A. (2008). Electrochemical treatment of deproteinated whey wastewater and optimization of treatment conditions with response surface methodology. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 157(1), 69–78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2007.12.082
  23. HACH (2014). Oxygen Demand, Chemical, Dichromate Method. https://latam.hach.com/asset-get.download.jsa?id=7639983816
  24. HACH (2015). Nitrate, Chromotropic Acid TNT Method. https://latam.hach.com/asset-get.download.jsa?id=7639983738
  25. HACH (2017). Reactive Phosphorus, PhosVer 3 Method. https://latam.hach.com/asset-get.download.jsa?id=7639983836
  26. HACH (2019). Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen, Nessler Method. https://latam.hach.com/asset-get.download.jsa?id=7639983809
  27. Hemalatha, M., Sravan, J. S., Min, B., & Mohan, S. V. (2019). Microalgae-biorefinery with cascading resource recovery design associated to dairy wastewater treatment. Bioresource Technology, 284, 424–429. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2019.03.106
  28. Hena, S., Znad, H., Heong, K. T., & Judd, S. (2018). Dairy farm wastewater treatment and lipid accumulation by Arthrospira platensis. Water Research, 128, 267–277. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2017.10.057
  29. Katiyar, R., Gurjar, B. R., Biswas, S., Pruthi, V., Kumar, N., & Kumar, P. (2017). Microalgae: an emerging source of energy based bio-products and a solution for environmental issues. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 72, 1083–1093. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2016.10.028
  30. Kumar, A., & Singh, J. S. (2020). Microalgal bio-fertilizers. In E. Jacob-Lopes, M. Manzoni, M. I. Queiroz, & L. Queiroz (eds.), Handbook of microalgae-based processes and products (pp. 445-464). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-818536-0.00017-8
  31. Li, K., Liu, Q., Fang, F., Luo, R., Lu, Q., Zhou, W., Huo, S., Cheng, P., Liu, J., Addy, M., Chen, P., Chen, D., & Ruan, R. (2019). Microalgae-based wastewater treatment for nutrients recovery: a review. Bioresource Technology, 291, 121934. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2019.121934
  32. Ling, J., Nip, S., Cheok, W. L., Alves, R., & Shim, H. (2014). Lipid production by a mixed culture of oleaginous yeast and microalga from distillery and domestic mixed wastewater. Bioresource Technology, 173, 132–139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2014.09.047
  33. Loganathan, B. G., Orsat, V., & Lefsrud, M. (2020). Phycoremediation and valorization of synthetic dairy wastewater using microalgal consortia of Chlorella variabilis and Scenedesmus obliquus. Environmental Technology, 42(20), 3231-3234. https://doi.org/10.1080/09593330.2020.1725143
  34. Lu, Q., Zhou, W., Min, M., Ma, X., Ma, Y., Chen, P., Zheng, H., Doan, Y. T. T., Liu, H., Chen, C., Urriola, P. E., Shurson, G. C., & Ruan, R. (2016). Mitigating ammonia nitrogen deficiency in dairy wastewaters for algae cultivation. Bioresource Technology, 201, 33–40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2015.11.029
  35. Luo, L., Ren, H., Pei, X., Xie, G., Xing, D., Dai, Y., Ren, N., & Liu, B. (2019). Simultaneous nutrition removal and high‑efficiency biomass and lipid accumulation by microalgae using anaerobic digested effluent from cattle manure combined with municipal wastewater. Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts, 12(218). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13068-019-1553-1
  36. Moreno-Garcia, L., Gariépy, Y., Bourdeau, N., Barnabé, S., & Raghavan, G. S. V. (2019). Optimization of the proportions of four wastewaters in a blend for the cultivation of microalgae using a mixture design. Bioresource Technology, 283, 168–173. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2019.03.067
  37. Olguín, E. J. (2012). Dual purpose microalgae–bacteria-based systems that treat wastewater and produce biodiesel and chemical products within a biorefinery. Biotechnology Advances, 30(5), 1031–1046. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biotechadv.2012.05.001
  38. Olguín, E. J., Dorantes, E., Castillo, O. S., & Hernández-Landa, V. J. (2015). Anaerobic digestates from vinasse promote growth and lipid enrichment in Neochloris oleoabundans cultures. Journal of Applied Phycology, 27, 1813–1822. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-015-0540-6
  39. Pandey, A., Srivastava, S., & Kumar, S. (2019). Isolation, screening and comprehensive characterization of candidate microalgae for biofuel feedstock production and dairy effluent treatment: a sustainable approach. Bioresource Technology, 293, 121998. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2019.121998
  40. Pires, J. C. M., Alvim-Ferraz, M. C. M., Martins, F. G., & Simões, M. (2013). Wastewater treatment to enhance the economic viability of microalgae culture. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 20, 5096–5105. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-013-1791-x
  41. Qin, L., Wang, Z., Sun, Y., Shu, Q., Feng, P., Zhu, L., Xu, J., & Yuan, Z. (2016). Microalgae consortia cultivation in dairy wastewater to improve the potential of nutrient removal and biodiesel feedstock production. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 23, 8379–8387. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-6004-3
  42. Raghunath, B. V., Punnagaiarasi, A., Rajarajan, G., Irshad, A., & Elango, A. (2016). Impact of dairy effluent on environment—a review. In M. Prashanthi & R. Sundaram (eds.), Integrated waste management in India (pp. 239-249). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27228-3_22
  43. Renuka, N., Guldhe, A., Prasanna, R., Singh, P., & Bux, F. (2018). Microalgae as multi-functional options in modern agriculture: current trends, prospects and challenges. Biotechnology Advances, 36(4), 1255–1273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biotechadv.2018.04.004
  44. Ritchie, R. J. (2006). Consistent sets of spectrophotometric chlorophyll equations for acetone, methanol and ethanol solvents. Photosynthesis Research, 89, 27–41. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-006-9065-9
  45. Saha, U. K., Sonon, L., & Kissel, D. E. (2012). Comparison of conductimetric and colorimetric methods with distillation–titration method of analyzing ammonium nitrogen in total Kjeldahl digests. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, 43(18), 2323–2341. https://doi.org/10.1080/00103624.2012.708081
  46. Santos-Ballardo, D. U., Rossi, S., Hernández, V., Vázquez, R., Rendón-Unceta, M. C., Caro-Corrales, J., & Valdez-Ortiz, A. (2015). A simple spectrophotometric method for biomass measurement of important microalgae species in aquaculture. Aquaculture, 448, 87–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2015.05.044
  47. Sarrafzadeh, M. H., La, H., Seo, S., Asgharnejad, H., & Oh, H. M. (2015). Evaluation of various techniques for microalgal biomass quantification. Journal of Biotechnology, 216, 90–97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiotec.2015.10.010
  48. Shu, Q., Qin, L., Yuan, Z., Zhu, S., Xu, J., Xu, Z., Feng, P., & Wang, Z. (2018). Comparison of dairy wastewater and synthetic medium for biofuels production by microalgae cultivation. Energy Sources, Part A: Recovery, Utilization, and Environmental Effects, 40(7), 751–758. https://doi.org/10.1080/15567036.2014.907847
  49. Sreekanth, D., Pooja, K., Seeta, Y., Himabindu, V., & Manikya R. P. (2014) Bioremediation of dairy wastewater using microalgae for the production for the production of biodiesel. International Journal of Science Engineering and Advance, 2, 783-791.
  50. Stichnothe, H. (2019). Sustainability evaluation. In K. Wagemann & N. Tippkötter (eds.), Advances in Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology, Vol. 166 (pp. 519–540). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/10_2016_71
  51. Sun, Z., Fang, X., Li, X., & Zhou, Z. (2017). Oleaginous microalgae from dairy farm wastewater for biodiesel production: isolation, characterization and mass cultivation. Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology, 184, 524–537. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-017-2564-7
  52. Tricolici, O., Bumbac, C., & Postolache, C. (2014). Microalgae–Bacteria system for biological wastewater treatment. Journal of Environmental Protection and Ecology, 15, 268-276.
  53. University of Texas (UTEX). (2025). Culture collection of algae. https://utex.org/collections/living-algal-strains
  54. Velea, S., Oancea, F., & Fischer, F. (2017). Heterotrophic and mixotrophic microalgae cultivation. In C. Gonzalez-Fernandez & R. Muñoz (eds.), Microalgae-based biofuels and bioproducts (pp. 45-65). Woodhead Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-08-101023-5.00002-9
  55. Wang, L., Chen, L., & Wu, S. (2020a). Microalgae cultivation using screened liquid dairy manure applying different folds of dilution: nutrient reduction analysis with emphasis on phosphorus removal. Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology, 192, 381–391. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-020-03316-8
  56. Wang, Y., Wang, S., Sun, L., Sun, Z., & Li, D. (2020b). Screening of a Chlorella-bacteria consortium and research on piggery wastewater purification. Algal Research, 47, 101840. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.algal.2020.101840
  57. Woertz, I., Feffer, A., Lundquist, T., & Nelson, Y. (2009). Algae grown on dairy and municipal wastewater for simultaneous nutrient removal and lipid production for biofuel feedstock. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 135(11), 15–1122. https://doi.org/10.1061/(asce)ee.1943-7870.0000129
  58. Yu, H., Kim, J., & Lee, C. (2019). Potential of mixed-culture microalgae enriched from aerobic and anaerobic sludges for nutrient removal and biomass production from anaerobic effluents. Bioresource Technology, 280, 325–336. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2019.02.054

Most read articles by the same author(s)