Biomass and Lipid Accumulation of Microalgae Grown on Dairy Wastewater as a Possible Feedstock for Biodiesel Production

Algae grown on wastewater media are a potential source of low-cost lipids for production of liquid biofuels. Gujarat state is known for dairy development. Almost all the districts of the state are having projects for milk production and dairy products. Lot of wastewater is being generated from these dairy industries and may serves as a nutrient source for algal cultivation. In the present study, wastewater was collected from dairy habitat, Anand, Gujarat and used for screening as well growth media of micro-algae cultivation. Two promising microalgae namely SBC39 (Scenedesmus) and SBC212 (Chlorella sp) were selected. To evaluate the suitably of dairy wastewater as enrichment medium for growing the selected SBC 39 and SBC 212, experiments were set up under control laboratory conditions with different proportions of wastewater (1 %, 5 %, 10 %, 20 %, 40 %, 50 % and 80 %) by replacing BBM and BG11 medium. The combination of 80 % wastewater and 20 % BG11 medium supported the growth of SBC 39 and SBC 212 followed by 50 % wastewater and 50 % BG11. Biomass production was highest for 1.2 g/l, (SBC 39) and 0.9 g/l (SBC 212) on 6th day. The highest lipid content was 28 % and 23 % in SBC 39 and SBC 212, respectively on 10th day. The present results revealed that the dairy wastewater may be used for algal cultivation and final products of algal biomass may be used as a possible feedstock for biodiesel production.