Treatment of Petrochemical Wastewater by the Green Algae Chlorella Vulgaris

Abstract

In recent years, cultures of algae were developed for both wastewater treatment and bio-fuel production. In this research, green microalgae Chlorella vulgaris were applied for bioremediation of an Iranian petrochemical wastewater samples. The efficiency of C. vulgaris and nonionic surfactants were examined in laboratory scale for elimination of COD, BOD, Total Nitrogen (TN), Total Phosphors (TP), and total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH). In the preliminary study, the growth of the algae were monitored in pure as well as 25%, 50% and 75% diluted wastewater samples The effectiveness of two surfactants of Tween 20 and Tween 60 were investigated in 15 day experiments. Removal of all parameters was significantly increased using surfactants. Nitrogen and Phosphors removal were observed in all experiment up to 100%. Maximum TPH degradation of 27% was observed by Tween 60 compare to 10% for control sample. Hence, using Chlorella vulgaris and surfactants can be recommended for treatment of wastewaters from petroleum industries.