Bioconversion of nitrogen in the rice parboiling wastewater by incorporation in biomass of the cyanobacterium Aphanothece microscopica Nägeli

• Main Authors: Maria Isabel Queiroz, Leila Queiroz Zepka, Márcio Queiroz Severo, Giandra Queiroz Volpato, Eduardo Jacob-Lopes, Reinaldo Gaspar Bastos
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Instituto de Pesquisas Ambientais em Bacias Hidrográficas (IPABHi) 2010-12-01
• Series: Revista Ambiente & Água
• Subjects: nitrogen; single-cell protein; cyanobacteria; heterotrophic bioreactor
• Online Access: http://www.ambi-agua.net/seer/index.php/ambi-agua/article/view/471

The cyanobacteria are able to effectively grow in wastewater due to their ability to utilize exogenic organic carbon sources and inorganic nutrients of the wastewater. Additionally, the biomass formed by the conversion of the pollutants have potential to be used as single-cell protein source. In this sense, the aim of this study was to evaluate the bioconversion of nitrogen of the parboiled rice wastewater by cyanobacteria in heterotrophic bioreactors. The results show the potential of the proposed system for the conversion of nitrogen from the wastewater, resulting in a removal efficiency of 83.0%, associated with a nitrogen to protein conversion of 9.2% at 15h of hydraulic retention time. These values indicate the possibility of producing 234 gprotein/m3wastewater treated by this process.