Integrated growth potential of Chlorella pyrenoidosa using hostel mess wastewater and its biochemical analysis

Wastewater from hostel mess endorses the potential for the sustainable growth of microalgae culture, as it contains necessary nutrients at high concentration. In this paper, the potential growth of microalgae species Chlorella pyrenoidosa has been studied using the wastewater generated from Ilango Adigal hostel mess at Pondicherry University. The experiments were conducted to analyze the physico-chemical parameter of hostel mess wastewater, and its utilization at different concentration for microalgae cultivation. The results showed the effective growth and biomass production of microalgae species Chlorella pyrenoidosa when the growth media contains at higher than 50% concentration of wastewater. At 100% hostel mess wastewater concentration, the growth reached 1.369 g/L dry wt. biomass on the 30th day growth cycle. The biochemical estimation of biomass was around 26% carbohydrate, 39% protein, 8% lipid, 13% chlorophyll pigment, ash 4%, and remaining moisture. The calorific value of the dried biomass was estimated ~ 19.400 KJ/g. The study indicates that the hostel mess wastewater has sufficient nutrient for the sustainable growth of Chlorella pyrenoidosa for potential biomass resource for production of biofuels and other valuable products.