Algae Oil Cultivation using Biogas and Nutrient from Anaerobic Biogas Digester

Abstract

This research studies the effect of the ratio of the effluent from the biogas digester to cultivate algae to produce oil. Also the growth rates of algae and oil content were compared between the reactors fed with synthetic wastewater and fed with effluent from anaerobic digester using biogas from digester and 98% CO₂ as carbon source. The study found that the algae fed with synthetic wastewater and carbon dioxide 98% had the highest growth rate of 40 mg/L-day which had oil content 11.84% of dry weight. Algae fed with effluent from anaerobic digester at 0.5% by volume had the growth rate of 20 mg/L-day and oil content 2.5% of dry weight. The study showed that algal species Chlorella Vulgaris TISTR 8580 cultivated with effluent from anaerobic fermentation tank and biogas has the potential to be used as alternative fuel. The nutrient optimization has to be improved in terms of the proper nutrients for commercial cultivation in the future.